I really like kids.
They’re innocent and have nothing to worry about.
They’re fun and they make me laugh.
They’re learning every day, they’re just kids.

And I worked a lot with them!
I gave a lot of swimming and water-polo classes for a couple of years.
I volunteered at Sainte-Justine’s hospital for a year.
Today, I give chess and computer classes at Stanislas’ college in Outremont, Montreal.

And this week, as I was going there for one of the last classes of the year, something special happened to me. While in the bus, we one time stopped at a redlight. And right next to us stopped another bus, a school bus. You know, the yellow ones. So I waved at the little boys who were looking at me, as I usually do! But to my surprise, there was no answer. No waving back. So I tried again, saying hi to the two boys staring at me. Nothing, once again. But they were still looking at me, but with no reaction at all, no emotions, even if they were looking deep in my eyes.

That bus was a special one. A bus especially for young Jewish kids.
And as I’m writing this sentence, I feel it’s weird.
“A special bus for Jewish kids.” What the fuck?
It is absurd, but at the same time it is real.
They’re young, but they’re already brainwashed.
As if they were in a complete different world.
No wonder it will affect them when they get older…

Usually (saying that with modesty) kids like me as much as I like them.
But this time, I got rejected. And I felt sad.
Not for me, but for those kids.
Actually, feeling sad for those kids made ME sad as well…

-Youssef Shoufan-

Partagez/encouragez-moi ↓   Suivez-moi ↓   Tweet   Follow @mysteryoussef Infolettre | G+ | Flickr | LinkedIn | +++   ledanz Youssef, it would be more sensitive to use the expression “jewish kids”. In French, juif is both a noun and an adjective, in English they have two words, Jew and Jewish, and for some reason Jew can be interpreted as being insulting. mysteryoussef Oh. I didn't know there was a difference between Jew and Jewish. And as my goal is not to insult anyone, it has been changed. Thank you! jamiesendeinberg Shalom!! ma shlom ha Youssef?

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