One Girl's Rant Against Egyptian Shops Has The Internet Going Crazy

Most of the things that go viral on the Internet – particularly on Facebook – are a little on the side of strange; but, every once in a while, people get out there and use the platform to express things that are well worth saying. You know, those things most of us bottle up inside of ourselves and then let out in the form of rants to unsuspecting people. Nada Kabil recently took to Facebook with a now-viral post, venting about one of the minor yet very irritating problems we face in this country: the idea of loose change.

Most stores (and taxi drivers, unfortunately) in Egypt have the tendency to round up to the nearest 5 LE and call it a day. While that's become expected – though not necessarily welcomed – from smaller independent shops, Kabil reached her whit's end when she started getting the same attitude from Starbucks. One pound here, two pounds there, and suddenly Starbucks owes her 500 LE, as per her viral post on Facebook.

We've grown accustomed to shopkeepers and taxi drivers shorting us on change, but a few extra pounds every day will definitely start to add up. Now, it's not so much about the change as it is about the attitude behind it. We're really not that cheap, and we're sure that most people would easily spare a single pound or two if they see a need. It's that sense of entitlement, though! As Kabil was saying, these guys don't even consider the idea of giving you back that loose change, and look at you like you're a stingy moron should you have the audacity to ask for what's rightfully yours – no matter how little it is. Perhaps if you give us back our change then we might – *gasp* – leave it for you as a tip! Look at that; you still get the change, but without entitling yourself to it. Now everybody's happy.

One of the things we love about the people of Egypt is that, beyond the frictions of everyday life, they're incredibly generous. At their core, most Egyptians are willing to gladly offer whatever they have in support of others. Let's hope this ongoing and infuriating trend doesn't make us calloused and lead us towards replacing generosity and gad3ana with greed and entitlement.