Tariku's Droplets

All We Need is Excuse     Tariku Abas Etenesh .......................................................................................................................................... "The dustbin is outside for a reason,” he heard a voice. He looked back from where he bent. A girl walked in, passed two rows, and threw herself onto the red padded greying middle seat to the left and slowly squeezed towards the window – face away.   "This isn’t what you think.”  “Trash is trash,” she said without turning.  “This is not a simple bottle,” he said and immediately regretted saying it. It made no sense; at least it would not make sense for her.   “Step back, doors closing,” the train chimed.   For a second, he thought of remaining onboard to explain.   “Step back, to allow the doors to close.” “Good night,” he said and stepped out leaving the bottle rolling on the floor.  When the train sl...

Part One: Leave and Never Come Back! Three years ago—on July 3, 2015, around 10:50 AM—a few (and I stress, a few ) connected, mafia-like members of the TPLF operating within the state-owned Ethiopian Airlines still considered themselves above the law. That day, they used a fabricated “security concern” and a vague accusation of “political tendencies” as a cover for their real motive: ethnic profiling. They sent security officers to my office at the Aviation Academy and literally forced me out, saying only, “Leave” —with the unspoken but clear message: “And never come back.” And I never did. To an outsider, especially someone unfamiliar with the inner workings of the airline, this may sound unfathomable. How could a civilian airline allow a political group to carry out mafia-style operations against its own employees? But I was not alone. Many before and after me have faced similar intimidation and injustice. While these individuals acted under the banner of the TPLF, I want to m...