My random thoughts on the flip-flop….

Ah yes – the flip-flop may have an innocent meaning to some but for those of Iraqi descent, it is an ancient relic with a deeper, darker meaning.

You see for an Iraqi child, and probably the grown-up version who can’t let it go, it doesn’t depict a summer stroll upon grains of warm sand accumulating between one’s toes. A pleasant annoyance I’m sure you’ll agree. No, it conjures up sinister memories of corporal punishment, of being chased by a parent down the hallway and sliding under the desk in futile attempt to hide away one’s derriere from the consequence of a flying flip-flop. It is also known in Arabic as the ‘na3aal’ using the Iraqi colloquial version. Where the ‘3’ is the Arabic letter pronounced appropriately as ‘ow’, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that it’s the same sound that one makes when in contact with said relic.

As our generation of Iraqis has all grown up we no longer use this method of disciplining torture. No, we now only use it for its primary function. But the stories those flip-flops could tell….

Do you have a flip-flop story to share?