I captured this image while sitting in the passenger seat of taxicab rolling in Alexandria, Egypt. It is a typical street scene. Egyptian men have senses of humor, despite the seriousness you see in this photograph. Their witticisms might be characterized: sharply ironic — and at times — sarcastic. For instance: It is common to hear a cab driver, or a plumber with only elementary mechanical skills, addressed as Muhandis, a designation usually belonging to a university-trained engineer. Everything is whimsically exaggerated. Guys on the block address each other (no matter their degree of poverty) as Besha, or Yah Besh, the colloquial version of Pasha, a high and distinguished title reserved historically for governors and generals. A man working construction on the roof of a five-story building — having recognized a friend on a sidewalk below — will holler “Abbooyah!”  Which when translated means: My Father! It does not matter if the guy standing on the ground is fifteen years younger; the exclamation in its mysterious way takes on meaning — something humorous and perhaps endearing, which the foreign observer cannot comprehend.

Apart from this low-key frivolity, men appear serious and often wear sober expressions in public, as you see above.

Life is a difficult for many. The category Girlfriend has no meaning here; there is no such relationship available. Young men naturally want a young woman, but that possibility only exists if a man has the wherewithal to obtain housing and has enough steady cash income to make a marriage contract. Egg-truck wages will probably not suffice for this purpose.