"Read the incident" was the famous phrase of newspaper and magazine sellers, and of course, there was an incident worth reading. At that time, the newspaper vendor had a special policy in selling newspapers and promoting the headlines they contained. He would read all the newspapers, recite their important and most attractive headlines, and if he didn't like the title of a certain topic, he would extract the most attractive title for the reader himself from between the lines.

When you decide to buy a newspaper, during the few moments you give him the price of the newspaper and wait for the change, he has already given you a summary of all the news. There is no objection if you don't buy the newspaper and ask him: Did they find out who killed Al-Nuqrashi Pasha? He replies: Yes... it turned out to be from the Muslim Brotherhood group, and he will be executed, and the others sentenced to life imprisonment, and Hassan Al-Banna disowned them and said, "I don't know them, they are neither brothers nor Muslims." He will keep telling you the full story until either he disappears or you do because he is not a newspaper seller but a seller of culture.

Years have passed since the last time I went to buy a newspaper or magazine, despite my old love for this habit. I was surprised that my subscription to "National Geographic" had expired, and so I wouldn't risk missing the new issue, I decided to buy it. Near my office at Al-Ahram Foundation, I saw a young man sitting in front of newspapers and magazines spread on the ground in front of a small kiosk. He didn't notice my presence because he was busy browsing his mobile phone, and the sounds of the videos he was watching were louder than the sounds of passers-by, cars, and street noise. He was not only inattentive but also laughed loudly from time to time. This state of immersion with the phone made him unaware of my presence until I decided to ask him about "National Geographic".

He didn't pay attention to my question the first time, so I repeated my question a second time. He said, while continuing to watch on his mobile, "It hasn't arrived for a few months, professor." So, I decided to search again because I felt he knew nothing about the magazines and newspapers he was selling. Surprisingly, I found the magazine, meaning it had not been discontinued as he informed me. At that moment, I realized that he was "like a donkey carrying books," and I didn't argue with him, took the magazine, and left.

My memory took me back more than 30 years when I was probably 12 years old. My father, may God have mercy on him, was the first to teach me how to read newspapers. He would ask me to read them, then tell him the important headlines, claiming that he was busy and had no time to read, but he was just trying to encourage me to read. Reading has become and remains a part of my formation.

My father was diligent in buying books and magazines for me, and I loved to go to the Al-Ahram bookstore early in the morning in my hometown of Belbeis. I would wait with dozens of others for the Al-Ahram car coming from Cairo with newspapers, magazines, and books, as if we were gathering for the reception of an important figure.

The Al-Ahram bookstore was a small shop, one meter by two meters, where "Aunt Leila" sat inside, may God prolong her life, and her daughter stood beside her to help. I used to buy most newspapers and magazines daily, and she knew by heart what I was following. It was enough for her to see me and give me the newspapers and magazines I followed. To the extent that she would keep the magazines for me if I didn't go at the time of their release for any reason.

I remember once I traveled during the release time of "He and She," "Here London," and "Al-Arabi" magazines, on a holiday with my family to my grandfather's house. When I returned and she saw me, she gave her daughter a key and asked her to open a wooden cabinet from which she took out the magazines and gave them to me. She was also an avid reader. Sometimes she would tell me: "Professor Anis Mansour wrote an important article today," or she would list some important headlines in the newspapers. She used to do this and still does with everyone, not just me.

"Abla Leila" was not a newspaper and magazine vendor, but a culture vendor, there is a big difference between the two, like the difference between a formally educated person and a self-learner, the same difference between the origin of something and its distortion.

"Abla Leila" knew that I loved reading a lot, but I couldn't afford to buy all the books I wanted to read. She used to give me books to read, and then I would return them, making sure to take care of them. She did this without me asking her.

One day, I saw the book "The Curse of the Pharaohs" by the writer Anis Mansour, and my allowance wasn't enough to buy it. I asked her if I could just read it, and she gave it to me. At that moment, someone came and saw the book with me and asked her for a copy, but she discovered it was the last one. She told him, "Unfortunately, this is the last copy." I felt embarrassed, so I gave her the book back and told her I could wait for new copies. She returned it to me while looking at the person who wanted the book and said, "You don't want Hajj to be upset with us," meaning my father, even though she didn't know him.

Despite more than 30 years having passed, these are scenes that cannot be erased from memory, scenes that contributed to shaping our human consciousness while we were young, scenes that make you wonder, where did these humans who used to live among us go?! What about this awareness, thought, compassion, empathy, humanity, and intelligence?! Surely, each of us has the same human memories, the same human history, and the same human characters and features.

There is no doubt that there is a human bond that always makes each of us remember every human who contributed to shaping our consciousness, a human bond that makes the long-term memory within the brain retain them and remember them from time to time, no matter how many years pass.

Last word:

Bill Gates recounted that when he was young, before launching Microsoft, he was traveling at New York's airport. Minutes before his flight, he saw a magazine that caught his eye, but when he checked his pocket, he didn't have enough money to buy it. When the newspaper vendor noticed, he gave it to Gates and said it was a gift without any compensation. Strangely enough, the same scene repeated three months later, and again, he didn't have any money. The vendor gave him the magazine a second time without any compensation. The image of this young man stuck in Bill Gates' memory. More than 20 years after the incident, and after becoming the richest man in the world, Gates remembered this young man and formed a team to search for him. When they found him and Gates offered to give him anything he wanted, the man refused, saying, "I gave you this when I was poor and had nothing because I loved what I was doing. Now you want to return it to me when you have everything." Bill Gates said about him, "I never felt that anyone was richer than me except for this poor young man." This is the true culture vendor who realizes that what he sells is priceless and cannot be equated with Bill Gates' wealth. This is the difference between a culture vendor and a newspaper and magazine vendor.

Now we have newspaper vendors, but we miss the culture vendors.