Word: shoes
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...Iraqis in Firdos Square in 2003 raining their loafers and boots on a fallen statue of Saddam Hussein, and the other of President George W. Bush ducking flying footwear at a 2008 Baghdad press conference during the last official visit of his term. In many Eastern cultures, hurling a shoe at someone is a grave insult. Iraqi TV reporter Muntazer al-Zaidi's decision to fling his size 10s made him an instant hero to many, although some noted that it broke Arab rules of hospitality, not to mention the journalists' code of objectivity. But the sentiment behind the shoe...
Retail, a sector battered by the slowing economy and consumer spending, presents a similarly nuanced picture. Among the most brutalized have been rubber-shoe maker Crocs (down 96%, to $1.52), bookseller Borders (down 93%, to $0.71), home furnisher Pier 1 Imports (down 90%, to $0.51) and casual eatery Ruby Tuesday (down 86%, to $1.38). But there have been standouts too. Some are thrift-conscious companies that make for classic recession plays: Dollar Tree (up 61%, to $41.61), 99 Cents Only Stores (up 39%, to $11.05), Family Dollar (up 27%, to $24.51) and Wal-Mart (up 15%, to $54.63). Others, though...
...face it, the irate Iraqi journalist who hurled his size-10 shoes, one at a time, at President George W. Bush during a press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad on Sunday had pretty good aim. If it weren't for the President's quick duck and weave, he might have had more than just a surprised look on his face. "So what if a guy threw his shoe at me?" Bush said, brushing off the incident. Perhaps we should chalk that statement up as yet another of the President's cultural misunderstandings of Iraq...
While it's clearly not a mark of esteem anywhere in the world, in the Arab world, tossing your shoes at someone is an act of extreme disrespect. Shoes, and feet in general, get a bad rap in Arab culture. The language is peppered with insults referring to feet. To say that someone or something is "like my foot" or "like my shoe" means that the person or object is of no importance and beneath you. Sitting cross-legged in a manner in which the sole of a foot is pointing toward an Arab is also a grave insult...
...their country will no doubt applaud al-Zaidi's rapid-fire gesture. On Monday, demonstrators rallied in support of the Shi'ite journalist in Baghdad's Sadr City slum and also in the southern Shi'ite bastions of Basra and Najaf. Already jokes are going around that shoe companies are now offering the assailant a lifetime supply of footwear. He may have missed his mark, but he certainly made a point...