Mind: Rants

أما صحيح قلة زوق

Khalidah — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 23:42:00 GMT

يعني أنا بصراحة مش عارفة كيف الناس بتفكر ... أو ما بتفكر بالمعنى الأصح!!

اليوم كان كتير زفت بالنسبة الي ... وصراحة كان مزاجي سيء جدا وما كنت مصدقة والنهار يخلص ... ولما أخيراً صار وقت أروّح ... بفتل بعيني ناحية الشباك ... وإذا بي أرى سيارتي محطوطة في موقف محرج للغاية ومزنوقة زنقة ... يا ساتر .. عن جد الله لا يزنق حدا

أنا سيارتي البيضاء

يعني كيف مخها حكالها إنه هدا شي عادي ... أنا ما بعرف

مش هون المشكلة ... القصة اني لما نزلت تحت وسألت عن صاحب السيارة المحترم (ة) ... قال لي حارس البناية إنها أخت محترمة بتشتغل بالطابق الأخير ... وعلى أساس راح يناديها ... لما وصل عندها قالت له مش سيارتي ... ورجع لعندي يجرجر أذيال الخيبة ... أنا بصراحة كبرت في دماغي ... كيف يعني مش سيارتها وهو الحارس كل يوم بيشوفها جاية فيها؟ وبكل وقاحة بتكذب وبتقول انها مش الها ...

أنا عصّبت ساعتها وطلع صوتي ... شو يعني قلة الاحترام وقلة الزوق هاي؟؟ على الأقل تورجيني رقعة وجهها وتقول سوري ما كان قصدي ... والمثل بيقول يا إخوان ... ورجي عذرك ولا تورجي بخلك ... وهاي لا عذر ولا بخل ... لا حيا ولا دخان جلّة ...

وطبعاً أنا حسيت حالي عادل إمام بمسرحية شاهد ما شافش حاجة لما كان بيحكي قصة الفيلم ... وأنا اتطلّعت حواليّ لقيت الناس طلعت من الشبابيك إلا أختنا بالله المعنيّة بالموضوع ... العرس عند جيرانها ... وفجأة بيطلوا اثنين شباب من شباك طابق أختنا وبيقولولي انها بعثت حدا يحل المشكلة ... وفجأة يظهر الفارس الهمام مسلحأ بمفتاح الليموزين ولكن ليخبرنا إنه الأخ المخضرم ما بيعرف يسوق ...

عرض على الحارس إنه يزيح البورش من محلها ... لكن الحارس رفض يتحمل مسؤولية ... فاجتهد الفارس المغوار وحل الغير (gear) عشان يدحلها دحل ... فكشرت عن أنيابي وقلت له إذا لمست سيارتي مجرد لمس، لا تلوم إلا نفسك ... فحط غماز وجلّس ... عصّبت أكثر ... وصاروا يعرضوا عليّ إنه واحد من الشباب ينط من شباك سيارتي ويطلعلي اياها ... فقلت: الله في سماه ما بتطلع سيارتي إلا لما تطلع سيارتها زي ما دخّلتها ...

ومش إنه الأخت تخجل وتنزل تحل المشكلة اللي هي خلقتها ... بعثت فارس مغوار ثاني ... وركب الأخ وشغّل ودفع السيارة لقدّام ... صاروا كلهم (اللي واقفين عندي واللي طالين من الشبابيك) يقولوا: خلص يا بنت الحلال، سيارتك طالعة ... قلت: أنا حلفت ما تطلع سيارتي إلا لما تطلع سيارتها زي ما فاتت ... وما قبلت إلا لما طلع السيارة من مكانها ... وقلت لفرسانها يخبروها إنه أنا بقول: إن لم تستح فافعل ما شئت ...

ول يا ناس ... إنه فوق ما هي غلطانة ووقحة ... ما تطل علي وتقول عفواً هنالك خطأ؟؟؟ أوكي يمكن خافت إني آكلها باسناني لو شفتها ... بس ما تنزل ... تبعث الفرسان وتطل من الطابق الرابع وتقول سوري ... بالله عليكم هاي مش قلة زوق؟؟؟

Beyond Depressed!!

Khalidah — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 22:22:00 GMT

Have you ever gone through this phase of emptiness? Where nothing is working and nothing is fulfilling? When you look around and you realize that there is not one single truth about your life that is satisfying? When you find yourself alone with no one to lean on? Is this depression or beyond it?

We say we have friends, but where are they? Each is leading his/her life in another part of the world; even if physically close, it is thousands of light mental years apart. You want to reach out to rant without being judged and what do you get? A preach!

You look for people who would empathically listen to you and what do you get? They don’t have enough time to spare.

I am depressed and probably not making much sense; I am sleep deprived and I wish to be sedated; when I do wake up, I hope it would be to a different world and a different me!

Educated or Sophisticated??

Khalidah — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 12:53:00 GMT

I was just having a conversation with my colleague 7ala about educated people and sophisticated ones and how there is a huge difference between both. In a country like Jordan; education has become a necessity like food and medicine; it seems that everyone gets to pursue higher education especially with all these private universities out there.

If we go back 40 or 50 years in time and see how Jordan or the whole Arab World was for that matter; we will find that only a minority of population got the opportunity to pursue higher education; this minority was usually from the rich class because they could afford to send their children abroad at a time we did not have universities here.

University of Jordan was founded in 1962 and starting that time, other sectors of the society had a chance to study without traveling, and education was no longer restricted to the financially fortunate individuals. By then; even middle class families could manage to send their sons and daughters to university to give them a chance at a better and brighter future than them.

I think it was initiated then that almost all people wanted to children to become doctors or engineers because those were in high demand at the time, they would graduate and find jobs waiting for them and they would make good money that will help them and their families to survive.

That generation got the most benefit out of education because they were a rare currency at that time and they did not need to struggle to find a job. The country was still less congested, they were needed and the value of our currency was much higher than now which facilitated financial growth for this group.

With time; more schools and universities were established, education was made obligatory for both genders, public schools made it possible for lower classes of the society to send their children to school. With passing years; the population increased significantly and at the same time the value of the currency was reduced.

In the last 20 years of this country's life, we have witnessed changes take place and we have proved that we are capable to adapt no matter what the circumstances were. Jordan was exposed to critical circumstances without having any infrastructure to adapt, yet the whole country and its people proved one more time that Jordanians are survivors.

One of these changes was that most of the people are educated with at least the first university degree, and just like any rule in this world; more supply means less demand and this is exactly what happened to our generation; we came at a time where there is no significant need or demand for our certificates; we now resemble those who had no education so 30 or 40 years ago.

What could be the solution? Stop people from pursuing higher education and move more towards technical professions?

Isn't it a valid point that the education fees are getting higher to push those who cannot afford it to learn something handy? Maybe it is a message to all those middle and lower class or even poor people to take their children out of schools and pushing them towards workshops and technical training centers to learn a profession that sends the individual earlier into the workforce.

To tell you the truth; I really don’t find anything wrong with this approach; if a person is not into physics, math and chemistry, why not learn something he would benefit from and give back to his family and the society as a whole. Instead of wasting the years on learning things he/she will never like or comprehend; isn't it easier if they shift towards practical education and save themselves and their folks time and money?

Yes, everyone has the right to get education, I am not defying that, but what if this education will be all wasted if this particular someone was not good at it or did not find anything to do with it when he/she graduates?

Yesterday; I read a post by the caller; she was talking about all these young people dreaming of leaving their countries to a place that would provide them with a better opportunity to work and make money, but couldn't it have been easier for some of these people to learn something that would give them the same if not a better opportunity in their own countries?

How do we manage to land good jobs in a place where everyone is educated? How can someone accept to be paid pennies after he/she worked so hard and studied harder for over 16-20 years? What is the solution?

The way I see it, it is no longer special or extraordinary to have a university degree; 30 years ago; a university graduate was someone people looked up to and youngsters saw as a role model. These days; we are like everyone else, we are all educated.

What sets the records straight is how sophisticated people are. The problem with us is that we don’t read and no, newspapers are not considered reading material!

What makes technicians, carpenters, electricians, mechanics, painters … etc. thought less of, is that when they leave school, they ditch reading and they do not develop themselves intellectually; they stop at that point and never grow up. What everyone must realize is that being sophisticated has nothing to do with being educated. Although it is easier for an educated person to grow into becoming sophisticated; it is not impossible for the uneducated to do that as well; all they need is the desire, willpower, determination and persistence and then they will become extraordinary with no doubt.

Blogs are the new source for email chain letters!!

Khalidah — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 16:31:00 GMT

We all get these annoying chain letters that doom us with bad luck if we don’t keep the letter moving. We get the same email many times because it seems that all our friends remember us with a simple forwarded message.

I really don’t mind much when the message is nice and sometimes brings a smile or a good laugh; however; some of these messages are becoming really annoying and those who initiate them try to make the reader feel a bit guilty if he/she cuts the chain and stops it in its tracks.

For example; I get these letters with nice Islamic messages, but at the end of the message, I find a disguised threat that says: if you are too good to read and pass this message, maybe you are not worthy of the rewards that you will gain if you do! How did these people live before the email era? What did they use to forward chain letters? Regular mail, registered mail or courier services?

Sometimes these messages are nothing more than a hoax email that spreads like fire in hay, and usually these kinds of messages are about famous characters or companies or just plain urban legends that hold no objective whatsoever; you scroll down the piles and piles of email addresses that are included from previous forward processes, and when you finally reach the end of the letter, it is a small message that dooms your with bad fortune and loss of all your life luck if you stop this letter from reaching the world.

It always amazed me how some people find the time and energy to create and start such chain letters; where do they get the material from? I am not talking about those who forward, I am talking about those who create and initiate.

The web is a wide source that can give information and images about almost anything, and with the new emerging technologies; you can find clips and send it to your friends list and so on.

We have seen groups created on MSN, Yahoo and others, and we have been sent many letters that were originally created by group administrators with an invitation to join at the end of the letter. I have to admit that some of these messages have good content but some others are just a pure waste of time.

When blogging picked up in our part of the world, we have seen fellow bloggers fall in the trap of "copy and paste"; they used to copy the content of these email letters and paste it in a post on their blogs. We have talked a lot about such bloggers and advised others that for your blog to be genuine; you have to stay away from the "copy and paste" trap.

What is happening now is the complete opposite; the chain letters creators have found a rich material in blogs; and I am receiving chain letters with content I have already seen and know that one of my fellow bloggers has actually written that.

Last night, as I was checking my email; I got an email that has images I have seen on Sabbah's blog. Another email contains the poem that Mysterious Eve wrote for the child Ahmad who died in the Israeli aggression last week, and as if that is not enough; I get the same poem but translated to English. Another time; I got an email with many pictures taken from Talasim and they still hold the logo.

Where is the respect for people who come up with these posts? Why don’t people respect copyrights and get permission from authors before they steal their material? This is stealing and I don’t think that it can be called something else.

Maybe it is time for those emailers to step aside and have mercy on our inboxes that become full because of these forwarded letters that have content we have already seen on blogs and by their own original authors; will you please stop the redundancy and give us a break?

We say we listen, but do we??

Khalidah — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 22:26:00 GMT

We keep hearing companies repeating that one of their strengths is that they listen to their clients, but do they really hear what they are telling them? Do they care that sometimes what the client wants to buy is not exactly what they want to sell?

In all the management books I read; it is mentioned that to be a good leader you have to listen with empathy. I remember that during one of the courses that I have taken a couple of years ago, the instructor was this elderly guru who has developed many companies and helped others make it; he told us that God has given us two ears and one mouth because it is wiser to listen more than we talk; that’s called wisdom.

In sales courses I have learned that selling is not about talking and good salespeople are not those who talk a lot; great salespeople are those who listen to their clients and eventually give them what they need.

It is unfortunate that when people are listening to you, they are actually not listening to understand; they are listening to respond and that means they are thinking of their next response and not comprehending what you are saying; that’s why we get engaged in conversations that are unsatisfying and more often than not, they end with no result at all.

Have you ever thought about this? Could it be that people fail in negotiations because they fail to listen? Could it be that we keep losing clients because we don’t really listen to their needs? Are we obsessed with what we sell that we completely ignore what people are actually looking to buy?

These are all valid scenarios and maybe we are subconsciously screwing up our opportunities because we suck at this simple skill; listening. We believe that our way is ultimately the right way and no matter how others try to describe their way of thinking, they will never e able to convince us, because like us, they don’t listen.

Companies wonder why they are losing clients, managers are always shocked that they are losing employees because they think that they are the best managers and they give their employees everything they ask for, but do they really? How could that be the case if they are not even prepared to listen to their internal customers? When will they see that it is not “my way or the high way” any more; talents are very hard to find and it is even harder to retain them especially with the severe brain drain that our country is suffering from.

Why don’t we at least try to understand the other point of view? Why should there be a dominant opinion over others? Who said everyone must see the world from the same angle? When will we start listening to what others are trying to say?

If we think deeper, we will find that when spouses have problems, it is because they don’t listen to each other, and it is like a conflict where there should be a winner and a loser; if you ever read John Gray’s “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” you would understand what I a talking about here. Same applies between parents and children, professors (teachers) and students, managers and employees, leaders and followers, even between friends. The everlasting struggles that keep us thinking without any result, it causes fights and hot debates, when will people understand that it does not necessarily mean that I am against you if I don’t agree with what you believe in? could this happen one day???

Broken Promises!!

Khalidah — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 15:20:00 GMT

Last week was awful; it was filled with disappointments and shocks from people I really thought highly of. It was a slow miserable week and it seemed that it was not going to ever end and I thought to myself: it will be over sooner or later so keep up girl!

I did not imagine that there could be something worse than last week, but this week is proving me wrong so far; maybe this whole month sucks or maybe my stars are just messed up and turning my days into a living hell.

Anyway; I think that one of the worst things that can ever happen to you is when someone you trust breaks a promise he made to you. As we get to know new people in our life, we grow to trust some of them, be it on a personal level or a business level; trust has proven to be one of the most important ingredients in communication recipe between individuals. In fact; I consider it to be the most important one.

Think about it; where would we be without trust? How would we live comfortably if we had to doubt everything and everyone around us? How would it be feasible for us to go on in life if we did not have people we can count on? If we think that our families and friends could double cross us any time, how would we deal with them? How can we move forward if we are paranoid of being stabbed in the back?

Trust is like an unwritten agreement between people; you don’t have to have a contract with everyone to be able to trust them, actually; I believe that if you do need such a piece of paper to reassure you, then this is the biggest proof that you do not trust these individuals and that’s why you needed what they promised you in writing so that you can hold them to it, you are expecting their double cross and you want to be prepared.

When you do trust someone; his word is enough and more binding than a thousand useless pieces of paper. They used to say that a man is bound by the words he says and they are considered commitments that he cannot and will not turn his back on. Men used words for business deals and the commitment was always: "I give you my word."

Of course when someone breaks up the promise; there is nothing you can do about it but it does not feel good, in fact it feels lousy and tastes like crap.

There are so many people out there who promise you so many things and give you their word for it, but they seldom come through, and when they do break their promises; their justification is that the agreement they had with you and have been going by for sometime now is not working for them any more and that’s why they are changing the rules of the game. You don’t like that? Well, tough luck dude; they call the shots and if you don’t accept it, the agreement is already broken and you are as worthless as the promise they gave you.

Sometimes I think to myself that most of the things that happen in my life should not happen in the first place and I wonder if it is my fault that they do happen; maybe I should stop being too nice as my ex-boss once told me; he said that my main problem in life is that I was too nice and that I should take courses on how to be tough with people. I really wonder if he was right all along.

Broken promises are in fact grounds for major break ups in relationships and arrangements, but it seems that honor is something of the past and one should not count on others' sense of decency and consideration. Such people are teaching us selfishness in its ugliest shapes and we all know that it is foolish and dumb to expect something to come out of selfish people because they only serve themselves and their own best interests regardless of how this might affect others.

Disappointment!!

Khalidah — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 13:09:00 GMT

They say: if you don’t want to feel disappointed, don’t raise your hopes or don’t even hope at all! Don’t expect much from others and you will not be subjected to one of the worst feelings ever existed; the feeling of being let down and deep disappointment.

No matter how hard we train ourselves to expect the worst for everything and everyone around us; we cannot but build a few hopes here and there. Unfortunately; people have made it an art to not meet others' expectations or fulfill their hopes.

Human psychology is so complicated and this shows in ways that are never predicted. Sometimes; you would believe that you are a good judge of character and that you can see through people to the extent that they can never deceive you, however; some people get to surprise you after all precautions and preparations.

We tend to think highly of people we like and we tend not to believe that they would ever let us down intentionally, but the fact forces itself on us once and again that these we care about so much might not feel the same about us and to them we are just another person passing their lives for one reason or another. Therefore; when they act with no consideration whatsoever to your feelings and/or reaction, you cannot help but feel the bitterness of disappointment.

What amazes me often that many people actually weigh and evaluate things from their own point of view only, without considering other factors; they only see what's in it for them and never think of consequences.

In this modern age where the machine is taking over many a role of people, we seem to have automated our own way of thinking; we seldom consider the human factor as human, and as the machine has calculated output whenever we give certain input, so should people. So if I was to give a machine the input of A and B, according to the calculations, predictions and equations, the machine must give an output of C and D, no tolerance for mistakes here because this is the way it is supposed to work, hence no disappointment from the outcome.

When dealing with people, it is juvenile to think that if I give a person the input of A and B, the outcome must be C and D, why? Because a human being is a bundle of feelings and emotions that are run by the most complicated machine; the brain; no two people are expected to give the same result and that is why some exceed our expectations and some actually disappoint us immensely.

How many times did we convince ourselves that X would never do this to me because he is my friend only to be surprised later that X was responsible for many of our own heartaches and setbacks? How many times did we give out of love only to be received with rejection and denial from those we care the most about?

These are everyday incidents and we have all suffered from such things at any point of our lives. Some of us have even vowed to themselves never to trust anyone again and to be very careful when dealing with others, but one of our most important features as humans is that we forget, sometimes it is a blessing to forget sour things but sometimes it is not wise to forget what stings like a bee; we should always remember how much it hurt when we let our guard down so that we will not be in the same position again.

From my own experience; no matter how nice others may seem, they are nice as long as you are of benefit to them, once this benefit is over; they really don’t have a reason to be nice to you and so they won't be.

I learned that when people want something from you, they will suck up to you and show you their best; once they get what they want; adios baby!

Disappointment is the thing that happens to newlyweds when they discover that the one they married is completely different from the one they fell in love with or were engaged to.

It is what happens to you when you have worked so hard on yourself to graduate and then once you achieve that, you don’t find practical life easy enough to live. It is what you feel when you cannot find a job and when you do and think that all your problems are over; they shock you with the bad treatment you will get and how they enslave you for the few bucks they give you.

Disappointment is a part of our lives and no matter how much it drags us down; we need to get up again and fight to live the kind of life we want. We cannot allow it to break us in half just because we are not strong enough or the shock was big enough. It is one of the many things that we as humans need to deal with and maybe the best way is precaution; always manage our expectations to take the good and the bad and never trust anyone too much because only those you trust are capable of hurting you so much.

Being fat is not a choice!

Khalidah — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 10:08:00 GMT

It is a lot easier to neglect large people than to admit that they exist! How did I reach this realization you ask? Well, it is very easy; all you have to do is look around you and you will figure it out for yourself.

To clear any confusions in your minds; yes, I am talking about fat people, whether we use terms like large, overweight, obese, big … etc. this does not change the fact that we mean fat. So, let's call a spade a spade and hit the nail right on the head.

Let's look around us and see how fat people are treated in our society. More often than not, fat people are considered with no feelings or insensitive, because let's face it; if they had feelings at all, they wouldn't be fat to begin with, they would do their best to fit their bodies to fit in the community.

Let's go shopping; almost all stores in Amman don't have large or extra large sizes from their merchandize that is displayed. When you find a store once every blue moon that has such sizes; they are tailored for older ages and they are all in dark colors, therefore; fat people are left with three options:

1- Accept whatever the stores throw at you and be grateful that you ever found anything at all; it is true that you will appear a lot older than you real age to which the weight added a few years already, but who is looking? You are not normal so you might as well admit it and move on.

2- Don't accept to wear clothes that are good for your mother or grandmother and go tailor your own wardrobe. If you go downtown, you will find lots of stores that sell nice fabrics; you can choose your favorite colors and pay the stewardess a visit and make your own clothes.

3- Don’t accept that you are different and keep looking for clothes in the stores. You want stylish clothes and you don’t want to surrender to the idea that these models do not fit your body type, so you settle for clothes one or two sizes smaller and you will look uglier than ever because you did not flatter your body by doing such actions.

Being fat in our part of the world means hearing remarks as you are walking down the street, being ogled at when you are eating, getting uncalled for advice from people and being fat deprives you from your rights of leading a normal life; you will not have the chance to love and be loved because who wants to be seen next to a fat person?

Let's take a look at relationships of fat people; almost always; fat people are the clowns of the group; they are the ones who always make fun of themselves, they are the first to laugh if someone dropped a joke about them and they never show that they got upset if someone offended them; after all; fat people are not supposed to have feelings, right?

Fat people are always judged by their size and shape; the majority of people do not pay attention to their personalities; if they had a personality to begin with; they wouldn't have been fat, right? This attitude is passed from one generation to another and we see that our kids are doing the exact same things we do; they treat their overweight counterparts as insensitive and objects for mockery and sarcasm!

Fat people are prejudiced all over the world, however; when we look at the west and how they deal with the issue, it is completely different than what we see in our part of the world. Not only they are treated as human at least formally, but obesity is now officially a disease and is covered by insurance. It is the No. 1 reason of deaths in USA and medical researchers are working on obesity causes and treatments exactly like they are working on any other fatal disease.

In our part of the world, obesity is considered a choice and that is why fat people are treated so badly. The majority of the people have convictions that fat people should be more decisive and determine to lose the weight and thin people almost always throw unwanted advice to them by saying: don't eat too much and you will lose weight.

Fat people hurt from the inside and do their best not to show so that they won't get more advice from those around them. At a certain point; they might even lose all control over their urges and their binging which will make things even worse.

Obesity and overweight have so many types and are caused by a different number of reasons. It is true that the most commonly known type is the one resulting from overeating or choosing the starch and fat rich foods as preferences, however; there are some clinical reasons that cause obesity and this one is the hardest and the most painful. A slight imbalance in the body hormones can cause obesity; certain medications have overweight as one of their most common side effects and emotional disturbance plays a major role in gaining or losing weight.

So, to all people out there reading these lines; cut fat people some slack; it does not make you a better person just because you weigh a lot less and it does not make them bad because they are fat. Also, don’t ever forget that regardless of their sizes; fat people are still human and have feelings that are more fragile than yours and they are easily hurt; their lack of self confidence makes them compensate for it with sharing people's jokes and laughs about them or even starting the joke themselves. They are self conscious and try to make up to their shortcomings by showing the world that they could care less.

Trust me when I tell you these things because I experienced them first hand and I know how it feels and how it hurts to be judged and prejudiced because of your size; it is really ironic how people consciously or subconsciously subtract the weight and size of your brain and experience from your overall size and weight!

كلوا هوا ... على هواكم

Khalidah — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 21:30:00 GMT

يعني يا جماعة، راديو فن بيزبطوها الصبح شوية مع برنامج بصراحة مع الوكيل، عشان يخربوا بيتها وبيت اللي خلفوها المسا مع برنامج على هواكم!

أنا متعودة أسمع راديو فن وأنا جاية على الشغل الصبح، وأنا راجعة على بيتي بعد الظهر. أول شي كان المذيع النهفة أبو بسمة يضحّكنا مرات ويضحك علينا مرات، بس ما كان لا زنخ ولا سمج، يعني كنا نسمع أغاني أكتر ما نسمعه. برنامجه كان برعاية موبايلكم، وكانوا يسألوا سؤالين في الأسبوع واللي بيكون صاحب الحظ السعيد بيربح موبايل من أبو مية ليرة مصاري، بس كان كل أسبوع في اثنين بيربحوا، واحد يوم الأحد والثاني يوم الأربعاء.

ما بعرف مين حسب أو قرر إنه هاي الطريقة مش موفية أو مش مسلية، فقاموا غيروا الطريقة. أول شي غيروه هو المذيع، وكانت هاي أعزائي القراء من الأخطاء التي يمكن أن نقول عنها "غلطة الشاطر" ... يعني مع احترامي للمذيع الجديد ... لسّاته جديد!

ثاني شي غيروه هو طريقة المسابقة، بدل ما يسألوا سؤال والناس تجاوب عن طريق الرسائل القصيرة "الإس إم إس" بتكلفة عشرين قرش للرسالة الواحدة، صار لازم على المواطن الفاظي اللي مش ملاقي شغلة إنه يتصل على الهوا وينسأل على الهوا ويجاوب، وفي حال صدفت ونقشت وكان الجواب صح، بيدخل المواطن الفائز على البونغ “Bong”.

حتى أحطكوا بالصورة أعزائي القراء؛ لازم أشرحلكوا شو يعني بونغ. البونغ عبارة عن صوت مسجّل يبدأ بمراكمة الدنانير اللي هي جائزتك ... طبعاً ما في تسلسل معيّن، الأرقام بتطلع عشوائي وعليك أخي المواطن المتصل الفائز أن تحزر متى يجب أن تقول ستوب قبل ما ينفجر البونغ وتروح عليك الجائزة ودنانير البونغ والدقائق اللي راحت خسارة على التلفون بتسعيرة ثلاثين قرش للدقيقة.

وحتى تتخيلوا معاي البونغ أكثر أعزائي القراء؛ بيكون هيك: دينار ... توت ... ثلاث دنانير ... توت ... سبع دنانير ... توت ... احدعشر دينار ... طاااااااااااااااااااااخ ... انفجر البونغ يا اخوان وظاعت الجائزة والدنانير والدقايق ... وساعتها؛ بيقول المذيع: له له له له يا {فلان} ... راحت عليك وبنشكر اتصالك ... وكجبر خاطر يتابع المذيع الفلتة: اهدينا أغنية على زوقك النا وللمستمعين، فبقوم المتصل الخسران المنكوب بطلب أغنية "كداب كبير" ويهديها للمذيع وجميع العاملين بالإذاعة ولكل الدنيا ... بتقدر تلومه؟ لا والله!

ولكن .. يا ريت الحال وقف على هيك ... حدا ثاني ما عجبه الوظع وقام غيّر طريقة المسابقة كمان مرة ... صارت الطريقة الجديدة انه ليش متصل واحد هو اللي يحكي ويخسر؟ خليهم اثنين! بيتصلوا مع بعظ ولازم يتسابقوا على اجابة خمس اسئلة بيسألها المذيع خفيف الظل، بس مش هون الفن؛ الفن إنه معهم خمس ثواني لإجابة كل سؤال، يعني يا أخي المواطن مش من حق مخك يفكر ويبحبش بين ثنايا الذاكرة عشان يطلع بإسم الشاعر الأندلسي اللي تغنّى بولاّدة، ولا من هم دهاة العرب، ولا من بنى القيروان، ولا كم طالت حرب البسوس. وطبعاً المذيع الكووول بيعرف جوابات كل الأسئلة من غير ما يشوف الكمبيوتر قدامه، ولا مانع من إشعار المواطن الخسران بغبائه وعدم معرفته شوية معلومات عامة، وينتهي بنصيحة المتصل إنه يروح يقراله كتاب معلومات عامة، أو يتصل بالبرنامج وهو خفيف مش متغدي.

إذا حصل وربح أحد المتصلين بإجابة ثلاث اسئلة من خمسة بيربح خمسين دينار واذا جاوب الخمس اسئلة بيربح مية دينار، بس يا اخوان لحد الآن ما في حدا ربح لا خمسين ولا مية ولا ما يحزنون، كسبوا الصلاة على النبي وإهداء اغنية كتاب حياتي يا عين!

بس رجعوا غيّروا الطريقة كمان مرة، معلش مش موفية أو ما وراهم شغلة ... المهم، الاسئلة ظلت خمسة بس لمتصل واحد بدل اثنين، واذا جاوب ثلاث اسئلة على الأقل، بيدخل على البونغ، وعشان تعرف شو هو البونخ عزيزي القارئ، اطلعلك أكمن سطر لفوق!

يعني يا إدارة راديو فن ويا شركة موبايلكم، يا بتعملوا اشي زي العالم يا لا تستغفلونا وتهينوا ذكاءنا! لا تتفلسفوا وتحطوا اسئلة صعبة او خلينا نقول مش سهلة، اسئلة تشابه في شكلها ومضمونها أسئلة جورج قرداحي بعد ما يطلع من دور الألفين ريال، بس ديروا بالكوا هه، احنا ما بنعطي خيارات، آه يابا والا شو؟!!!

ويرجى اختيار المذيعين بعناية شديدة، لأنه فوق ما احنا مش شايفين طلعته البهية بيخفف دم وبيعطيها شوية مزحات بتجلط ... اذا فعلاً هدفكم هو امتاع المستمع وإفادته بنفس الوقت؛ لقد قمتم باختيار أسوأ الطرق لتحقيق الهدف وفشلتم فشلاً ذريعاً؛ من الأفضل إلغاء الفقرة أو استبدالها بشيء يدخل العقل والمزاج معاً، يعني انتو عاملين زي اللي بيضرب كف بهالفقرة وبيعدّل الطاقية ببرنامج الوكيل!

أناشد الجهتين؛ راديو فن وموبالكم بمراجعة حساباتهم حول هذه المسابقة أو الاستعانة بذوي الاختصاص والخبرة لإعادة الحياة إلى هذه الفترة المسائية التي ترافق العديد منا في السيارات أو البيوت أو حتى الهواتف المحمولة، وشكراً

The Look!

Khalidah — Sun, 02 Jul 2006 16:41:00 GMT

It has been a very long time since I posted anything on my blog and I really miss my readers and fellow bloggers. I miss the action that some topics trigger among us, I miss debates and most of all; I miss writing.

Coming back to my blog bit by bit; I decided to give it a makeover and I felt like blue! You see; there is a special bond between yours truly and the blue color with its different shades; I just love it and connect with it on a psychological level, hence; my Mind has just turned blue!

Back to this post and why I felt the urge to write after all this time; there is a phenomenon that really annoys me and I really want to rant some about it and maybe you can help me understand and cope with it.

We all take walks in Amman's streets; we go into supermarkets, malls, bookshops, restaurants, stores … etc. Sometimes we take walks downtown where streets are full of people coming and going and you cannot help bumping into them as you go by. These are all normal things but what is it with people who ogle you and give you the look as if they are weighing you from head to toe and sometimes the other way? What is that look exactly?

Sometimes you cannot enjoy a meal at a restaurant because people stare at your direction and try to figure out what you have ordered. Other times you are walking down the street to notice that the person walking in your direction is staring at your shoes or clothes and then makes eye contact with you before he/she moves along or breaks the stare. What is that?

Some people change their face expressions to make sure that the message got through to you; they did not like you or how you look or what you are wearing and they want to make sure that you know it. They will only break the stare when they make eye contact with you and twist their mouths to convey to you: dude; I hate you, I hate the way you look, the way you walk, your clothes, your color, your features; I hate you!

I have to wonder; don't these people know that it is rude to stare? Didn't their mothers teach them not to do that because people don’t appreciate being ogled? When will they learn that it is a bad manner to gaze at someone with no reason?

The other day; I was going home with my dad after I went to see my doctor; I was feeling weak and very sick; it was only one week after my surgery and my wound was not healing; it got infected and I had to pass by the pharmacy to get the antibiotics the doctor prescribed. I went in and there were two pharmacists at the counter; they were busy with clients so I waited and did not give them my prescription.

The pharmacist closer to me noticed that I was not in my best state and told me to have a seat and relax while he fills the prescription and took it from me. I appreciated this kind gesture and was happy to take the seat but the guy who was being served at the time did not like it; he gave me "the look"! he stared at me and gave me the head to toe evaluation gaze; I tried to ignore it but he kept standing there and staring at me till he made eye contact with me; he twisted his mouth and shook his head as if to say that I did not deserve the good treatment that I got from the pharmacist, then he took the medication and went out without even saying: thank you!

What is that?

What is it that makes people who do not know you judge you and condemn you at the same time by giving you "the look"? Is it arrogance? Being judgmental? Feeling superior? Or feeling less?

I am one of those people who feel it when they are being watched or stared at, so you can imagine the dismay and discomfort I feel when it happens. Sometimes I stare back till they break the stare but I can't do that all the time as I don’t want to start an eye fight out of nothing; they hate me already!

I just want to say that if you ever catch yourself staring at someone for any reason, remember that they might not like it especially if they are not from those who crave attention. On the other hand; if you are being stared at, do your best to ignore it because it will not make any difference in your life or the current situation if you did not, and remember that it is their problem if they are staring at you and you don’t have to do anything about it!

Tiny creepy blood suckers!!

Khalidah — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 16:15:00 GMT

In case you are wondering what I am talking about; it is the mosquitoes!! Oh how I hate those creepy tiny things that keep roaming around you and never give up until they have sucked up your blood or died trying.

It seems to me that they hibernate right under your nose and at the first sign of warmth and heat, they go into feeding frenzy mode and they are all over you. No matter what you use from insecticides; they still find a way around it and get to your blood.

As mush as I hate these tiny pests; I am fascinated by their construction and persistence. As light and insignificant they are; they are more complicated than you think; just some of the strange facts about them; get this: mosquitoes are responsible for the most human deaths world-wide!

They prefer children to adults and blondes to brunettes; so the argument I used to get from my sisters was a valid one. You see, they have skin color that is way lighter than mine and you can say they tend to be blonde while I am a brunette, so it makes sense now.

Mosquitoes can detect a moving target that is 15 ft away! Can you imagine that? So if I was in a room and the mosquito was in the next room, it will detect my movement and come for my blood; talk about scary!

The average life span of the mosquito is 3 – 100 days and she is the blood sucker; on the other hand; her male peer has a life span of 10 – 20 days and does not suck blood; interesting, ha?

A mosquito can smell its live host (that is basically us humans or any live animals) from a distance of 20 – 35 m! Boy! We really don’t stand a chance with them.

Mosquitoes don't see very well, but they zoom in like a heat-seeking missile. In the spherical arrangement of their compound eyes, blind spots separate each eye from the next one. As a result, they can't see you until they are 30 feet (10 meters) away. Even then, they have trouble distinguishing you from any object of similar size and shape: tree stump, 55-gallon drum, etc. When they are 10 feet (3 meters) away they use extremely sensitive thermal receptors on the tip of their antennae to locate blood near the surface of the skin. The range of these receptors increases threefold when the humidity is high.

The most fascinating fact I learned about these creatures is that although they are into blood sucking; they do not transfer AIDS from someone infected to someone who is not. Studies with HIV clearly show that the virus responsible for the AIDS infection is regarded as food to the mosquito and is digested along with the blood meal.

Mosquitoes Do Not Ingest Enough HIV Particles to Transmit AIDS by Contamination.
An AIDS-free individual would have to be bitten by 10 million mosquitoes that had begun feeding on an AIDS carrier to receive a single unit of HIV from contaminated mosquito mouth parts. Most people have heard that mosquitoes regurgitate saliva before they feed, but are unaware that the food canal and salivary canal are separate passageways in the mosquito. The mosquito's feeding apparatus is an extremely complicated structure that is totally unlike the crude single-bore syringe. Unlike a syringe, the mosquito delivers salivary fluid through one passage and draws blood up another. As a result, the food canal is not flushed out like a used needle, and blood flow is always unidirectional. The mechanics involved in mosquito feeding are totally unlike the mechanisms employed by the drug user's needles. In short, mosquitoes are not flying hypodermic needles and a mosquito that disgorges saliva into your body is not flushing out the remnants of its last blood meal.

Ok! It is cool to learn more facts about these creatures that disrupt your sleep almost every night in the summer. They suck your blood and feed on it leaving you with a mark that can easily turn into a scar if you mess with it. To me; I would rather that the mosquito sucks my blood and leave me alone to go back to sleep than roam around my ear with this annoying wizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz sound; what is it with mosquitoes and ears? Isn't it enough that they are feeding on us that they have to always rub it in? why do we have to be awake for them to get the job done? Damn! I really hate mosquitoes!!!

To read more about them; please click here and here

Ranting about the hot weather!

Khalidah — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 10:59:00 GMT

My least favorite season of the year is here and I am sweating already. I have always been a winter person; I love the rain and the cold weather. I have always said to myself that if you ever get cold, you can put on some warm clothes, you can sit near the heating source or you can tuck yourself under covers, but what can you do when you get hot? You cannot remove your own skin, now can you?

If my memory serves me; the weather was not always this hot! The summer was somewhat tolerable, but now it seems that noon is the minute we open our eyes in the morning and I am always inclined to say that I go out of the house at 7:30 noon time and not morning time because this is how it feels.

The moment I enter my car in the morning; it is boiling inside and I really need a few minutes to get used to the heated seat and steering wheel; sometimes I cannot even touch it because it is too hot. Thank God I have a conditioned car.

When I was a little girl; my dad used to take us to picnics in the summer. We used to choose spots under trees and spend the day playing games, singing and of course BBQ'ing. Sometimes we went to the sea or the hot springs where we swam almost all day long; what a refreshing feeling.

As grown ups now; we spend our weekdays behind desks in closed office rooms, some of which are not air conditioned and you are stuck with heat coming from the outside and the inside because of breath and heat generated by machines; not attractive.

What I like about summer though is the many fruits that fill the shelves of supermarkets. Summer fruits are juicy, sweet and full of useful fibers. Nothing compares to a slice of cold watermelon in a hot day, or a plate full of different kinds of fruits to allow you to pick and choose.

Cold drinks and juices are another great option to help you deal with the hot weather. Imagine yourself walking down the street in a very hot day; what is the first thing that comes to your mind? A glass of icy water or cold juice? Maybe a slush is the best choice here!

What about ice cream? I really love ice cream in all shapes, flavors and colors. I am prepared to have it any time, summer or winter. Whoever invented ice cream was a genius and applaud him for this great product. I am sad that we cannot get to Jerard's that easy these days, don’t you love their ice cream?

Swimming is another option but only when you have the time. Unfortunately; we don’t have a beach in Amman; I really wish we had because swimming would be a lot better than closed swimming pools scattered here and there. Not all of these pools are clean, not all of them are suitable and we don’t even have enough time in the day to have this luxury. That’s why when I was in Aqaba last August; I really did not want to get out of the water!

Thankfully; I have air conditioning in my car and in my office, yet I am ranting about the heat because I really can't take it. I really feel for people who are forced to conduct their work out in the open under the angry sun; these people really suffer from the heat and sometimes do not even have the time to do something about it; for example stop for a cold drink or sit in the shade.

The minute I saw Hajaj's caricature in the newspaper today; it inspired me to post about the heat and here I am sharing it with everyone. This guy really expresses my thoughts!

My name has an "h" and my blog has a "/"

Khalidah — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 10:03:00 GMT

As everyone knows; my name is Arabic but not widely used in the Arab World; it is more used in Iran, Pakistan and Bangladesh. I really do not know what made my parents choose this name for me; maybe because my elder sister's name is Kholoud and they wanted something close.

Growing up; I did not really like my name that much especially that almost all my teachers made a funny face when I said what my name was. At university; my name was always spelled in a wrong way and I was therefore mistaken for a guy.

When I wanted to issue my passport; it was after I finished high school and my father wanted to send me to France to live with my uncle in Nantes and study at its university, so I had to translate my birth certificate to French; hence write my name in French. My name officially became "Khalidah" with an "h" at the end.

This is the name that I used from that day onward. Still; a lot of people remove this "h" when they write my name and this really annoys me and makes me sad at the same time. I do care how I spell everyone's name and I appreciate it when someone brings it to my attention that I misspelled their names.

You might be asking yourself; why is she blogging about this? Well; the answer is very simple: there are a lot of people out there who misspell my name and remove the "h" so instead of sending them separate notes on this issue; I thought it is easier to write a note in my blog about it. I am expressing this freely because I follow this lovely quote by Theodore Seuss Geisel who said: "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind"

You all matter to me a great deal!

Since we are in the correction mode now; please note that the URL of my blog has a "/" at the end and it is extremely important because if you remove it from the URL, you will get an error of "The Page Cannot Be Displayed", try it:

http://anolita.jeeran.com/mind

Now try:

http://anolita.jeeran.com/mind/

This is a call to anyone that by any chance misspelled my name by removing the "h" and removing the "/" from my blog URL. I thank you for linking to my blog if you are and I thank you to correct the above-mentioned so that all internet records are the same. Please add the "h" to my name and the "/" to my blog!

*Note: For non Arab readers; my name means Eternal or immortal

Summer sense of style!!

Khalidah — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 12:18:00 GMT

It’s June, it’s summer time and from the early hours of the day, the sun is shining so hard and the heat is rising every minute. You get up in the morning after a long hot night full of battles with mosquitoes; you take a shower, get ready for the day and then head out in the overheated car to start your lovely summer day!

It is obvious that I am not that fond of summer; in fact; the heat kind of suffocates me and I think I become irrational when the atmosphere is overheated; I can’t help it; I just feel so edgy. However; what I am about to talk about here is not the heat and the elevated temperatures we are experiencing; this post is dedicated for summer sense of style!

The sun is high up in the sky and up goes with it sleeves and skirts and shirts; it seems that everything is shrinking up!

I am sure that each and every one of us takes a look around and sees how girls and elderly women just started to show up as much meat as possible in these sunny days that we are going through. I am sure that some of you might say: so what? What makes you talk about this? What annoys you in short skirts, sleeveless shirts, spaghetti strap tops … etc.? Well; I will tell you!

It is only logical that one should wear something that fits what he/she is doing. You just don’t see a guy wearing some shorts to a meeting, now do you? So why is it that we see girls wearing these revealing provocative clothes for such occasion? You just don’t see a guy’s underwear flashing you in the face while at a business conference, so why is it that whenever you turn your head here or there you get flashed with a bra strap or worse; a thong?? When did it become ok to see someone’s bellybutton or cleavage while you are attending a course or a lecture or simply having lunch in the middle of the day?

Sometimes it is not suitable and it even lacks taste to wear such things for formal occasions and it is distracting. You reveal more than you seal and then you curse these boys for sneaking looks you have already invited them to take. You do not put something out in the open and then feel upset and offended when someone looks at it; I mean was not that the point you put them on display in the first place??

I get it! Some girls have the assets that make them attractive and beautiful and some attention would not harm anyone, but what about those who do not have what it takes to make them pass as gorgeous and yet still flash the world with less than ugly scenes? Isn’t it enough that we have to deal with the good ones to have to deal with the bad ones? I mean; for God’s sake, wear something suitable for your size, age, status … etc.

If you are a large girl, please do not wear tight clothes; it hurts bad enough to see these tight clothes on skinny chicks and they do not look good. If you are old enough to be a mother and in your late thirties or forties, please wear your age because fitting yourself in these shiny small pieces is not flattering at all.

If you were not blessed with a shiny white skin, maybe orange or lime green is just not your color, so why insist on wearing it?

Who was the first one who came up with this style or lack of it for that matter? It is not ok or cool to wear beach clothes for work, it is not ok or cool to reveal more than you seal as you are walking down the streets and then cry out your frustration of these men who cannot control themselves, it is not ok or cool to wear clothes that are too tight or too small or do not fit your age. It is not ok or cool to make chiffon a part of your daily wardrobe because its suitable time and place is parties.

Please don’t tell me that this is the followed trend and that you just go for it without thinking. If one day you walk in the grocery store to find that the latest trend in the food market is to eat flavored poison, would you go for it just because it is the trend?

Summer girls; please have mercy because this is getting way out of hand!

What a couple of days - Ranting!!!

Khalidah — Mon, 29 May 2006 22:53:00 GMT

Yesterday and today were really something to blog about and that’s exactly what I am doing now! My day yesterday started out with almost falling out of bed after the long weekend and although I did my best to sleep earlier than usual, I really needed another couple of hours to make me human again, but eh! Sleeping does not pay the bills, does it?

After performing my morning rituals of getting ready; I headed out of the door with my sister. It was her first day at her new job and I had to give her a ride, naturally! But to do that, I had to change my daily route in order to drop her. I work in Sweifieh and she on third circle, so I drove from Sahab to the 3^rd circle and then I had to deal with the traffic from there to my office. Needless to say; I arrived at work so depressed and tired; not a good way to start the week!

Work day officially started and things became normal for a while. Some of the team members were at Webex preparing for the opening as we are one of the event sponsors. We were all supposed to be there so we headed towards Hayyat Hotel in the afternoon, my colleagues 7ala, Rasha and Wedad rode with me. Wedad suggested that I park at Zara and since it is my first time there (believe it or not), I did exactly that.

We were stopped, searched and checked; so were the car and our purses. After we were finally allowed in, we took the elevator to the floor that hosts the exhibition but I had to go get my badge and papers for the IAA conference that I am attending the next day; i.e. today!

Calling the lady who called me in the morning to ask where I was supposed to pick them up was of no use; she said go to level B, I asked in which tower? She said: who is this? I identified myself and my company and then she says: is Nisreen there with you? Who the hell is Nisreen and what does this have to do with my question? She said: ok no problem, thank you and she hung up!!

I was fuming and started talking to my cell phone repeating the word; stupid, stupid, stupid!!! I went down all levels and then climbed up again; no use! Finally; I came across someone who recognized me from VIVA article! He introduced himself and strange enough; I had just come across his blog that very same day! Although he works for Maktoob (kidding), but I think that God was looking after me at that time!

Samer told me that I had to go to the hotel to get the IAA papers and complete my registration and off I went. Anyone who knows this hotel well will know that it is not a picnic in the park; it was a long walk! Finally; I arrived that Level B and was able to complete the task I came for, and then headed back.

I had set up an appointment with my dear friend Lina to show her a catalogue of traditional dresses that my mother makes and met her at our booth at webex. We took a small tour around and out of no where; an elderly guy comes to me and insists that he talks to me. I thought that he was about to ask me why I was taking pictures or that he will pitch me about something technical or give me a brochure, but no, it was none of the above. The main reason he wanted to talk to me was that he has a cure for my obesity! He has some magical recipe that will turn me overnight into Miss Jordan; that is if we had one! I said: thank you but I am really not interested, he said: but I can prove it to you, I said: thank you but I really don’t want to, he said: are you sure? It will make you lose weight and I said for the last time: I really, really don’t want to know about it.

Lina was shocked how he had the courage or the nerve to approach me like that and I told her that I am used to these nice gentlemen trying to cure my problem for me; every time I go downtown; someone pops up with yet another magical recipe to lose weight. Lina said that this is worth blogging about and here I am!

She said that she is happy with how I deal with the issue and I told her that I had learned to come to terms with my weight problem and accept these gestures with an open heart and not take them as insults. It took me four long years to understand what lazy thyroid, PCOS and hormonal imbalance really mean and I am doing my best to work on the consequences of all of the above, so I am not going to worry myself with little intrusions like that one.

After I showed Lina the stuff I brought and I hope she liked them, I gave her a short ride to the front of the hotel where she had parked and found my sister waiting for me there, took her and drove to Jebal Al Hussein were I bought some shoes; I promise you that if I did not desperately need to do that, I wouldn’t have gone but that was that.

Finally home at 10:30 and already feeling dead, I saw the family a bit and then tucked in my bed at around 12:00, I was ready to sleep deeply.

I woke up this morning at 7:00, showered and thankfully did not slip like Hala did, and made it out of the house at around 8:00. I dropped my sister at her work and headed back to Hayyat Amman Hotel to attend the first day of IAA conference. This was a whole day event with interesting speakers, but talking about it will have to take another post; probably tomorrow. All I remember now is why the hell did I have so many things in my bag? Boy! it was really heavy! Right now; I really want to get some rest because I had a really long couple of days with little rest in this hot weather; God save us in the summer!