You would think an abomination took place in the streets of Egypt this week, but something far more natural and insignificant happened: A photo went viral of ONtv reporter Lamia Hamdin conducting an interview while she was carrying her baby.
As expected, hypercritical people all over social media accused her of being unprofessional and incompetent. She had to explain to the media that she was covering the political forces’ meeting with Prime Minister of Egypt Ibrahim Mahlab on El-Kasr El-Aini Street and later had to go to 6th of October City in Giza.
She was worried about not being able pick up her 1-year, 8-month-old son on time, so she decided to bring him along. She added that none of the people she interviewed were offended by his presence; even the crew helped her with carrying her obviously sick child and he was never on camera.
As a working mom, I have to say that I am appalled by the backlash she received. This woman represents every working mom, not only in Egypt but across the world. For those who have ignorantly judged, sometimes the woman doesn’t have the luxury of not having an income and when she actually works, her day revolves around being in front of the nursery on time, regardless how much work she has or how bad the traffic is.
This woman should be celebrated instead of being shred to pieces. The only difference between her and all of us working moms is that she was caught on tape being a real human being on a bad day. Egyptians constantly complain that we live in a hopeless country; well, maybe if we were kind to one another, there might be a glimpse of hope.
WE SAID THIS: Sett be meet ragel
