If it is advertised that a film will be shown in a public cinema at 3:30 a.m., you can be sure that it will — and also that such things happen in some Arab cities. In Europe, on the other hand, cinemas usually wind up their evenings around 11 p.m. At that time, many Arab countries are just getting started; it is not unusual, by the way, for the performances to go on until dawn.
I don’t really understand the idea behind these late hours. I don’t really understand why entertainments and amusements always occur at night — and often late at night; in many other countries, weddings often take place in the afternoon.
Young people nowadays brag that they can stay awake all the night. If you should happen to be awake before dawn and go into the street, you will likely find a group of young people wandering about. No, they have not got up early; they have been up all night and haven’t slept yet.
I often wonder why these unhealthy habits and practices regarding the use of time and the serving of meals have developed. Although people are well aware of the unfavorable consequences, they do little to change the practices. The question that I would like to ask here is linked to changing attitudes and to the level of influence many awareness campaigns in our media actually have.
It is an accepted fact that for health reasons, people should have dinner at least three hours before going to bed for the night. Is that we do? What can be done about the very rich and fatty meals that are served in the early morning hours at weddings and other celebrations? As we see, our children prefer junk food and sodas even though their parents warn against both. At the same time, the child is shy about telling his friends that he sleeps early and wakes early since such people are characterized as “old-fashioned” and “villagers.”
Personally, I agree with the idea of sleeping early and waking early and if some people want to call me names, I am proud to be so distinguished. I don’t know the relationship between staying awake all night, eating junk food and the idea of development, civilization and modernity. These three control us far more than they should and because of a misunderstanding of their real meaning, children don’t want to be dropped at school early for fear of being made fun of by their classmates.
The night used to be connected with poets and poetry — never with food and overeating. If we are incapable of changing our eating and sleeping habits, what hope is there for us?
