a note about shebob

so shebob. i don't recall if i have explained what shebob are up to this point, and that is leaving out a major focal point of my life here. so shebob (sheb being the singular form) are young men. the men that fall into this category are somewhere between 18 and 30 and usually unmarried. however, i have come to find that shebob-ness is not a demographic so much as a state of mind and course of behavior.

one almost always talks about shebob, it is unusual to hear about the actions of a single sheb, and that is because a key aspect of shebob culture is the group. shebob wear tight jeans, often of the sparkly variety. they are not above rhinestones and the more useless zippers and rivets on the jeans the better. most of the time the jeans seem to be borrowed from their younger sisters. shirts are tucked in, usually some shade of purple, and similarly sparkly or shiny. they prefer their hair to be unrecognizable as a natural thing but instead coat it in handfuls of gel that is bought in jars the size of the mayonnaise sold at kostco. the hair can be swirled into a kind of faux-hawk, spiked, or the more basic and always classic combed straight back and weighted down with gel. they travel in packs, never less than three, thus the oddity of a single sheb acting alone. there is a very clear correlation between the number of shebob in a pack and their confidence.

when shebob are confident they will yell. they seem to yell whatever is on their mind, though there are predictable phrases. usually it starts with a simple "hello." one will assert himself as the brave one and yell at the passing, sweaty, grocery-laden Americee "hello" "how are you?" "whats your name?" usually a few others will take it up as their rallying cry. through puffs of smoke the yells get steadily louder and followed by more laughter. depending on where you are, and how crazy the shebob feel, it may turn to propositions in arabic, or insults. in the cities it may go so far as to lead to one breaking from the group to go for a butt-grab. this is only attempted on the crowded streets of a city and is something that many of the girls here have already had happen. by the time that you process the fact that your butt was just grabbed the offending shebob have already melted back into the crowd.

in my particular village the shebob are not bad at all. humdullah. they seem more entertained by watching me then trying to interact, and usually im past them and out of earshot before they can pick up enough steam to move on to more insulting fare. or maybe they are just more polite than most shebob, in which case they could cross over into the category of "good shebob." good shebob are elusive. you usually can only identify them if you meet them in their parents home, and then they are out of their element and are behaving as a sheb all on their own.

this brings me to the point of defining shebob not so much as men of a certain age, but an entity onto itself when young men are together. shebob are to be avoided if at all possible. it goes without saying that you cross the street if there is a group of shebob ahead of you, and streets where shebob tend to hang out are better left untraveled. these streets are usually those with bus stop shelter things (these are particularly frequented when it comes on towards night and all the shebob are out and looking for places to sqat), auto shops, and obviously those with high-schools. its not that the shebob are dangerous, or really all that threatening at all, its more just an annoyance that you can do without; like avoiding the greenpeace dudes with clipboards at the top of the escalators on the metro lest they trap you.