Fifty-seven-year-old Mohammed Bakkouri memorized the biography of Thomas Edison, because he was also a seller of newspapers. “I learned about this scientist by chance while reading one of the articles in one of the weekly newspapers,” he said.
Bakkouri has no specific working hours. His day starts when the newspapers and magazines arrive at the bookstalls in Gafsa. Every morning he takes some newspapers and magazines and he sells them to travelers in the different transport stations. He puts some aside to sell them to those who travel between Gafsa and Tunis.
Fifty-seven-year-old Mohammed Bakkouri memorized the biography of Thomas Edison, because he was also a seller of newspapers. “I learned about this scientist by chance while reading one of the articles in one of the weekly newspapers,” he said.
Bakkouri has no specific working hours. His day starts when the newspapers and magazines arrive at the bookstalls in Gafsa. Every morning he takes some newspapers and magazines and he sells them to travelers in the different transport stations. He puts some aside to sell them to those who travel between Gafsa and Tunis.
Born in Metlaoui in Gafsa in 1956, when Tunisia became an independent state, Bakkouri had a rough childhood. His mother died when he was young and his father remarried. He stopped school after finishing the sixth grade and to pass the time, he used to go to a nearby shop which sold cigarettes, newspapers and magazines. His hobby was watching people look at newspapers before buying them.
An interesting profession
“They aroused my curiosity,” Bakkouri said. “They looked as if they were searching for a dangerous secret buried inside this big pile of papers.”
With the passage of time, Bakkouri changed the way he looked at these bundles of paper. “Some people, who do not have money to buy them, spend a long time trying to explore their secrets and they claim that they want to buy them,” he said.
Forty years ago, Bakkouri started to practice this profession and it was all by mere chance. “I was 20 years old, unemployed and I didn’t have money to pay for my cigarettes. One day, a relative of mine asked me if I would like to make some money to cover my daily expenses but I never thought that I would become a seller of secrets,” he said.
“He gave me a pile of newspapers and I carried it and went to the train station in Metlaoui to sell it. I walked into the station and I looked in all directions. I felt as if I was a thief. After a while, a number of passengers gathered around me and bought all the newspapers from me. Some did so because they wanted to read while others only wanted to help and encourage a young man in his first life experience. This is how I spent my first day in this profession,” he said.
“I was able to earn 2.5 dinars that day and for me that was good stepmother, a veil. She used it and she was so proud of it. She used to tell the women living in the neighborhood: ‘this is a gift from my son.’”
Despite his limited education, Bakkouri tries hard to understand what is written in the piles of papers he is carrying around with him.
“Whenever there is a big crime, a visit by a high-ranking official, or a serious global event, I become the most important person on earth. People start to wait for me every day in the morning with lots of passion and sometimes with lots of fear,” he said proudly.
More punctual than the train
The drivers of trains and the workers of the station know Bakkouri very well. Sometimes, the trains stop running because they need repairs and sometimes the workers go on strike, but Mohammed is always present.
Every night, at around 1:30 am, he goes to the train and he waits for the one coming from the capital city of Gafsa province and then to Sfax. He arrives at the al-Mahras station at around 6:00 am, and there he returns the unsold newspapers and brings new ones.
Omar checks the Gafsa – Tunis train tickets— he met Bakkouri years ago. “I never saw him fighting with anybody or bothering any passenger. When he doesn’t come, and this is very rare, we immediately think that he may be sick and we start asking about him.”
Farmers feel happy when it rains, but for Bakkouri the rainy season is not his favorite. When the rain falls on his piles of newspapers he incurs financial losses because the distributor refuses to bear the costs of damaged newspapers.
“This profession has taught me how to deal with all citizens. I sell my newspapers to the poor and the rich and reading the newspapers over the past years have made me aware of every detail.”
A profession that has lost its luster
“I am sad to say that this profession has lost its luster. People now get the news from TV, while it is happening, and also from the Internet. Today, I don’t see the eagerness in the eyes of people to buy the newspapers. Some people buy it, fold it and put it aside to read it later on. This is painful for me.”
According to Bakkouri, people buy newspapers to read the ads and announcements. In many cases, the news published in these newspapers does not express the opinions of the citizens and their concerns because newspapers are no longer a source of news and secrets as they were in the last century.
The money he makes from his profession hardly covers his daily expenses, which is why he did not marry. Despite his old age, he still hopes to find a woman to live with him. “My financial problems can’t be solved until I find the chance of my life,” he said jokingly, adding that “life is running away and there are very few days left.”
He sighed and said “Edison used to sell newspapers to complete his studies but I sold newspapers to smoke and to watch our neighbor’s daughter until I reached this situation. I do not regret it because life has taught me that getting what you want doesn’t come from wishing, but from working hard.”
“Are you going to write an article about me?” he asked “Where are you going to publish it?” He left carrying his newspapers and magazines to wait for readers and fans of the newspapers that are becoming fewer in numbers with the availability of information in digital media.
