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Mona Aboueofatoh was despondent Thursday after Hosni Mubarak announced he wasn't stepping down as president of Egypt. Friday was a different story.
"I am so happy," she said. "I can't even speak, happy. I'm really, really happy for what happened to the people in Egypt."
Mubarak's sudden fall the day after he defiantly vowed to hang onto power wasn't a complete surprise. Aboueofatoh's analytical husband predicted it. Aboueofatoh had a great place to celebrate -- And Company in South Norwalk, where she has worked for 15 years alongside owner Hesham Elmished, who is also from Egypt.
Hesham Mohamed, another member of the local Egyptian community, came in to express his opinion as well. Mohamed said he couldn't describe how happy he is. "You can't imagine," he said. "I was born in Egypt, [and] since I was 12 years old I realized it's not the place to live. Not because of the country, because of the system."
The trio mentioned the word "justice" often, and have much faith in the Egyptian Army, where power now resides. "I believe the army will handle things until we have a democratic election in which the people will choose what will happen," said Mohamed, an accountant and realtor for William Raveis. "My father served four years in the army and I'm sure it will be a just and fair transition."
Helmished expects the army to run things for a year, giving the people the time to come up with a civil constitution. Aboueofatoh doesn't know who will have power next, but she knows it will be an improvement. "Whoever comes after Hosni Mubarak, I think it's going to be much better than him," she said. "Because he is the worst. He is the worst."
She's not worried that somehow Mubarak will continue to run things with a puppet government. "It's all history now," she said. "He can't do anything."
"He took his tail and run," said Elmished, who prayed Friday alongside other people from the Mideast for those who died. He compared the fall of Mubarak with the fall of the Berlin Wall. "In 7,000 years, we never had a revolution," he said. "The whole world does not have many revolutions. You can count them on two hands." After work, he was planning to go to Queens to celebrate en masse with other Egyptians.
Mohamed and Aboueofatoh said they had been back to Egypt and were appalled by the economic conditions. "Things have gone up 10 times from what they used to be and the gap between rich people and poor people have gone bigger and the middle class almost disappeared," Mohamed said.
"The money he's got he's not going to enjoy because he's already sick and he is already dying," said Aboueofatoh of Mubarak. "I hope he dies before he enjoys anything. I swear, I feel bad for all of the money he got from the people. You know, he's supposed to fair, not supposed to be taking the money."
They expect the revolutionary fever to spread to Algeria and perhaps beyond. "It's a new era for the whole world," said Elmished. "For people who love democracy. Anyone who loves democracy, loves justice, loves freedom. Every dictator should watch out."
Do you think the revolution will spread through the Mideast?
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