Selling falafel

Or wearing a goatee has its perils. Oh well, we must really sit down and understand this phenomenon, start a heartfelt dialogue.

In a bizarre example of Iraq's creeping "Talibanization," militants visited falafel vendors a couple of weeks ago, telling them to pack up their stalls by today or be killed.
The ultimatum seemed so bizarre that, at first, most laughed it off -- until two of them were fatally shot as they plied their trade.
"They came telling us, 'You have 14 days to end this job,' and I asked them what was the problem," said Abu Zeinab, 32, who was packing up his stall for good yesterday in the suburb of al Dora, a hard-line Sunni neighborhood.
"I said I was just feeding the people, but they said there were no falafels in Muhammad the prophet's time, so we shouldn't have them either.
"I felt like telling them there were no Kalashnikovs in Muhammad's time either, but I wanted to keep my life."

Wrong! You should have pursued the dialogue, man,! Don't take after those stoopid American yahoo cowboys. Be sensitive. Try wearing Birkenstocks. We are the world. Sweet talking will do it. Sure thing.