I often look through a news item....knowing that there is a bit more to the story. So I'm patient and eventually will get to the true theme of what happened.
Sometimes though....you start to take a story apart and realize that it's almost too comical to tell to regular people because no one will believe just how screwed up the mess was, and how it unfolded in a matter of minutes....turning into a colossal mound of crap.
So it begins in Dusseldorf, with a ingenious idea to use the major international trade fair area down on the west part of town....near the Rhine River. The city needed a real area where refugees could be housed for a fair amount of time, which was heated and could be fixed in a way to allow for showers and toilets. From a practical way, it made sense to use the Messe.
The operation was set up, and eventually it made sense to hire some former members of the refugee center as part of their staff.
Early on, from the Berlin prospective....it was talked about how you really shouldn't mix group A with group B....tensions or national conflict....take your pick. The intellectual crowd in Berlin were kinda bright and noted how they could manage things like this in a smart way.
The staff guys? Mostly Iranian.
The majority of occupants at the facility? A mix of Afghans and Moroccans.
A fire was set a couple of days ago within the building....because of a conflict between the Moroccans and Iranian security folks. Why you ask?
Well....it's Ramadan. Rule number one of Ramadan is that you can only eat and drink.....before the sun comes up, or after the sun goes down. If you take Ramadan serious.....you must obey the rule.
What happens if you were to wake up at 4:44AM? Well.....the sun would be rising. At that point, as a legit Muslim member....you can't sip any water or eat anything. You probably should have been up at 4AM.....to get down as much water as possible and hope to last through the day.
What happened in the Messe building? Well....the Iranian guys didn't come to wake folks up early, so the sun started to rise, and the pretty serious folks from Morocco came to realize how screwed up things were.
Naturally, this led quickly to tempers reaching a peak, and setting the building on fire.
I know....in the real world....most folks don't get fired up like this at O'dark-thirty as the sun is rising, but this is how things played out in Dussldorf.
Now, you might go back and ask....did the silly Iranians do this on purpose? There is some belief by various members of the facility.....that tensions had risen to a point where the Iranian didn't really desire to be helpful.
You can imagine some German cop standing there....with some social office guy, and some city council guy, and asking why exactly did the Iranian guys not wake up their associates. Nothing about this would make sense to the typical German. But they don't go around trying to last twelve hours in June.....without any water until sun-down.
What will happen now? I'm guessing that the Iranian guards or support personnel will be laid off or sent elsewhere, and a couple of regular Germans will be hired and told in strong language to wake everyone up at O'dark-thirty to ensure they meet Ramadan rules.
A crazy world? Well...the German folks are getting to a point of discovering that. And if you tried to explain this all to a regular German.....about half-way through....they'd ask for a shot or two of some strong liquor. After the end of the story.....your German friend will shake their head, and it's best to sum it all up....."It's a bold new world out there".
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