sitting in a french patisserie along the highway to the north of lebanon...

Outside the highway buzzes by
Shebab on their scooters with Lebanese flags wrapped around their heads and Heinekens in their hands
A schoolbus of kids clapping and singing
A convertible with 2 "gorgeous" women both checking themselves out in their respective side-mirrors
An old army jeep with 6 soldiers in the back, one flicks his cigarette onto the road
A Sri Lankan maid on errands for her madame with her 2 hands full of grocery bags walks by
Inside its old french music blasting
The AC is on, but its not cooling a thing
The coffee from the Nescafe machine tastes strange
The old man behind the counter sits staring at the highway outside
A woman, I assume his daughter, stands nearby staring at me

"what is he writing?" she's probably asking herself

An old man paces and stops by the door.
He pauses from staring out the window to count the few dollars in his pocket
He checks some loose pieces of paper mixed in with the bills
The electricity cuts out and a worker from the back runs out to see what's wrong
While he's walking outside the old man behind the counter shouts at him to check what's wrong
I enjoy the silence sans the french music
It's hot, my skin is sticky

A second later the generator kicks in and the music is back
I realize how much I hate france