Waiting on the Refugees

July 24, 2006 - 5:28 PM by Allison

It isn’t the news reports that are making this war real for the residents of Israel who live in the center and southern parts of the country — it is the visitors from the north, with the stressed and exhausted look in their eyes. Noorster encountered a family while waiting tables at a Tel Aviv seaside restaurant.

As a newbie I was given one of the crappier sections. I had about four tables all day, one of them was a family of five. They seemed to stick out, but I didn’t know why. They sat down against the gorgeous backdrop that is the Med sea – am I making things up, or does it really look bluer than ever? They ordered lunch, and since they could be classified as a mild threat on my alert chart of Israeli obnoxiousness (New Immigrant – Ill-mannered – Downright Rude – Very Annoying – Extremely Vile – You’re Lucky I’m Broke) they got an extra glass of ice for their lemonade and coke order.

One of the kids had his arm bandaged up all the way from fingertips to shoulder. They were carrying bottles of water in a plastic bag, and they had no beach accessories on them. Something about their tense posture made me worried.

When I gave them the bill, the father looked at me, smiled and asked “Do you give discounts to refugees from the North?” They were from Nahariya. They had spent two days in Tel Aviv and were now headed back home. In the end we gave them a round of ice cream, though they protested, saying they’d been joking

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