The coordination among the control groups was great, and at times, drivers were given passwords to utter to the people of the next control stop, which meant that there they would avoid being systematically controlled; thus, the entire process was somewhat facilitated. For a person with my experience, who may have crossed various districts and highways throughout Cairo by taxi for seven consecutive evenings, there was compassion, understanding, fairness, and trust.
With the emergence of the army as a top key element of traffic security (mainly on Thursday 3rd of February), loyalty was added to the aforementioned traits.
4. Talking to Youngsters in Charge
To offer a personal example, in the evening of Thursday, 3rd of February, I picked up a taxi at 21:15 in the Autostrad highway nearby Maadi to go to Abbassia; practically speaking, this means a movement from Cairo's south-eastern suburb to the easternmost confines of the central part of the city.
The taxi driver decided to avoid the (shorter and faster under normal conditions) Autostrad highway, and cross poorer districts like Bassetin and Sayeda Ayesha, hoping to find there fewer control stops. At a certain moment, we came upon a group of youngsters who thought that I was one of the friends of Gamal Mubarak who either already left the country or are hiding in order not to be arrested.
Since these youngsters were not convinced in the nervous discussion that ensued, they asked my papers, which I presented to them in order to prove that I was not an Egyptian. They could not believe that a person with Greek passport would cross such a poor area whereby many Islamic era tombs have been occupied by homeless and duly transformed into houses for the living. Quasi-automatically, a crowd of no less than 50 people surrounded the taxi, rendering the taxi driver very nervous, as he knew that their worry was unjustified. Angrily, they ordered him not to speak, and this was what I advised him to do immediately.
They then checked my handbag, handed it over to me, and took my passport and "carnet'' (employee identification card) for meticulous control; after an early examination, they kept the two documents, asking the taxi driver to follow their own car. That was the moment one should not panic, and having not worried at all, I managed to calm down my taxi driver. I was anticipating the development that I will further narrate. As we moved, I came to notice that behind us no less than ten (10) motorbikes followed to accompany my taxi, carrying two or even three youngsters each.
Finally we reached the major traffic control point at the entrance of the Citadel, which was ensured by the military. Tanks, armored vehicles and many soldiers were deployed around. There, the end of the trouble would occur; the youngsters handed over my papers to the head of the military, and disappeared, having carried an act that fully represents a feeling of loyalty and attachment to the army. Under similar circumstances, this was indeed the best thing for them to do. The military apologized to me because of the curfew and the "trouble', asked my destination, and handed over my papers back to me. We then proceeded to my destination, crossing numerous control points with fewer youngsters...
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