Kaboom goes the tolerance

Earlier in the day, it was sort of raining, which produced an amazing rainbow over the sea. Now it is a bit brighter and there are some guys outside cutting up the street with some type of machine. One guy is doing the pushing while another stands with a jug of water, which he periodically pours on the machine to put out the flames it shoots out. The machine is running on gas. A gas can sits not too far from them. Cars are dashing and prancing by them - I wonder if their drivers even notice the fire.

I've been wrestling a bit with my biases since I've arrived, and I can't figure out why I have them. I never felt the need to say "why do they do it this way?" in the past, but most of my travel experience has been in the West, with only brief stints in Cairo, Jordan, and Istanbul. Perhaps since I've spent a few weeks in Lebanon (two last summer, one so far on this trip) I've had more time to notice things I deem "problems." Perhaps it's because Beirut seems like a Western city from appearances and I assume they have Western views on safety. Perhaps as I've grown older, I've become less tolerant of cultural differences.

Or perhaps this really is just stupid.

Come on, you're using a gas-powered machine that's spitting out flames and think pouring water on it is going to stop it from exploding before you finish cutting up the street?

You might want to get to the end of this rainbow and talk to the leprechaun if you're gonna keep doing it this way.