In one of my favorite blogs there is an on going discussion about women participating in Olympic sports or any sport for that matter. One of the latest comments asked if, when all is said and done, are men not capable of having feelings other than lust?
It reminded me of an incident that happened on a bright sunny day in Sana’a. My husband and I were buying take-out for a picnic we wanted. My husband said he would cross the street from the take-out side of the restaurant to go buy some of those smoothies I am always hankering for. So there I was in full regalia- Black abaya, black shayla, black gloves, black shoes, black socks, black niqab with dark sunglasses under my veil- the sun is a killer in those high altitudes and it is never really hot- with a bag of food and a black handbag…
From the sit-down side of the restaurant out comes a man with two equally veiled ladies. The man and the women pass right by me and the man starts staring at me until his head has turned more than 180 degrees! Now, I start wondering what in the world could he possibly be staring at- I mean I’m more covered than the two ladies with him!
So the Spanish American side of me came out and all I could blurt was “Y Tu que miras!” (What you looking at?) the man almost keeled over because the words coming out from behind two veils was not what he would have expected! My husband who was just about to put his foot on the curb in front of me almost tripped as he let out a resounding laugh!
The man stopped dead in his tracks; that neck of his must of have been smarting an awful bit! The next thing was my torrent of Arabic asking my husband what the heck that man was staring at when all he could possible glimpse was a black cloud carrying a bag of food- didn’t he have any manners, yada, yada, yada!
My husband couldn’t even answer me that was how much he was laughing…finally after about a minute he turned to the man and simply said – She bought her abaya where your wife bought hers! I had no choice but to chuckle and shake my head in wonder… In a place where its easier to catch sight of men’s knees as they strut about in skirts – they still turn lustful eyes on black, shapeless phantoms… what starvation!
Hope he still has a whiplash!
Shadjar Al Noor ...Really? 
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