A few days ago I emailed everyone in my address book that I am moving internet provider and asked them to use the new email address that was indicated in the body of the mail. Before pressing the send button, I contemplated on the content that I wrote and decided to add that my home address and telephone number remain the same. I thought that the last sentence will seal the deal and that everything will be crystal clear. Wrong wrong wrong.
The responses that I got were unbelievable and made me wonder and reevaluate people's intelligence a new. I had underestimated intelligence in some and overestimated on others based on my cliche and perjudiced perceptions. I have sworn, never again! Let me share a few answers:
The first group was the one that English is their second langauge and they are not very fluent in it, but get by. All of them understood exactly what I was talking about. They immediately emailed me on the new address to acknowledge receipt.
Another group that English is their mother tongue asked me where I was moving to? An English lady who claims to have a degree from Oxford wanted to know where can she meet me when she gets here end of July, if not in my old house??
A marketing director at another firm wanted to know where our offices are moving to? Another one asked me what happens with the current email address. The winner was the one who was glad to hear from me and wanted to invite us to dinner soon. And ofcourse I said yes!
My favorite answer came from a favorite friend who wished me good luck in the moving process (which I need desperately, because the move is far from smooth). She also said that she was glad that we were only moving in cyberland and not into another land, because she would have terribly missed me. This is the kind of answer that I strive to deliver everytime that something comes up.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Creating Dr. Teddy
At the last stages of the + years of 40, I experienced one of the joys of 4teen and once again concluded that being young has a lot to do with the state of mind and has some to do with the birth date on our official identity cards.
I was shopping for a graduation gift with the older 4teen and she decided that she wants to give the graduate a teddy bear as a gift. Mind you this teddy bear was not an ordinary one that you buy ready in the store, it was custom built in a fancy store where I spent a few hours of a very happy time. No drinks were involved!
We went into the build a bear store and started being GOD! First we started to choose the kind of stuffed animal that we want grizzly bear, panda bear, Koala bear, dog, cat, tiger, lion and the list goes on and on. Did I say that they came in various prices, some of them astronomical? Then we had to decide on the color of the animal, and there were so many of them that choosing was yet another cumbersome and fun task. An hour later we had a teddy bear that was chosen based on our financials and we were ready to pay when we realized that the teddy is just a piece of rag and it needed to be processed further.
Yes, the processing further meant that an employee needed to stuff the animal with the special material that is used to make them fluffy. Basically, we blew life into this piece of rag to give him soul and identity. We were also asked to kiss a small fabric heart and to wish something for the graduate and leave it in the teddy for good luck. Like a good affectionate mother, I wished the graduate to become a successful doctor.
Our Dr. Teddy looked great, but naked, so we dressed him. You should have seen the selection of clothing, shoes, underwear and specialty gears that were available to us. They had diving gear, safari suits, real suits, designer jeans and brand name boxers, just amazing!! We dressed our teddy in university T-shirt that he was graduating from and graduation cape and gown and very excited, we went to pay the Dr. Teddy that we had created. At the cashier we were notified that we have missed a step. That is, we had forgotten to print his birth certificate (BC). We could fill the birth certificate however we wanted, and the store will authorize the authenticity of it. I wanted the BC to read blue eyes with the height of 6”5, something that I secretly wished that I had!! Wow all done, we paid a week wages of the 4teen and left the store with a gorgeously wrapped teddy.
I don’t remember being this genuinely happy for such a long time. It was a lot of fun and I felt like a kid again. But now that the effect is gone, I can’t help but wonder what if I had the power to choose my own children and decide how they will look and what they will be? Appearance wise, would I have chosen the more expensive one that is trendier and more beautiful, or would I have chosen an ordinary one? Would I have wished them to have a successful career or would I have wished for health and happiness? Would the way that I would have dressed him, affect what he would have become? Would she have resented me if I would have made a choice that did not suit her?
The way I see it, I am so glad that I do not get to choose those things and as for the Dr. Teddy, I think we had a lot of fun making it, just not the traditional and biological way.
I was shopping for a graduation gift with the older 4teen and she decided that she wants to give the graduate a teddy bear as a gift. Mind you this teddy bear was not an ordinary one that you buy ready in the store, it was custom built in a fancy store where I spent a few hours of a very happy time. No drinks were involved!
We went into the build a bear store and started being GOD! First we started to choose the kind of stuffed animal that we want grizzly bear, panda bear, Koala bear, dog, cat, tiger, lion and the list goes on and on. Did I say that they came in various prices, some of them astronomical? Then we had to decide on the color of the animal, and there were so many of them that choosing was yet another cumbersome and fun task. An hour later we had a teddy bear that was chosen based on our financials and we were ready to pay when we realized that the teddy is just a piece of rag and it needed to be processed further.
Yes, the processing further meant that an employee needed to stuff the animal with the special material that is used to make them fluffy. Basically, we blew life into this piece of rag to give him soul and identity. We were also asked to kiss a small fabric heart and to wish something for the graduate and leave it in the teddy for good luck. Like a good affectionate mother, I wished the graduate to become a successful doctor.
Our Dr. Teddy looked great, but naked, so we dressed him. You should have seen the selection of clothing, shoes, underwear and specialty gears that were available to us. They had diving gear, safari suits, real suits, designer jeans and brand name boxers, just amazing!! We dressed our teddy in university T-shirt that he was graduating from and graduation cape and gown and very excited, we went to pay the Dr. Teddy that we had created. At the cashier we were notified that we have missed a step. That is, we had forgotten to print his birth certificate (BC). We could fill the birth certificate however we wanted, and the store will authorize the authenticity of it. I wanted the BC to read blue eyes with the height of 6”5, something that I secretly wished that I had!! Wow all done, we paid a week wages of the 4teen and left the store with a gorgeously wrapped teddy.
I don’t remember being this genuinely happy for such a long time. It was a lot of fun and I felt like a kid again. But now that the effect is gone, I can’t help but wonder what if I had the power to choose my own children and decide how they will look and what they will be? Appearance wise, would I have chosen the more expensive one that is trendier and more beautiful, or would I have chosen an ordinary one? Would I have wished them to have a successful career or would I have wished for health and happiness? Would the way that I would have dressed him, affect what he would have become? Would she have resented me if I would have made a choice that did not suit her?
The way I see it, I am so glad that I do not get to choose those things and as for the Dr. Teddy, I think we had a lot of fun making it, just not the traditional and biological way.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Mammonies!
This was the title of one of segments of last week's TV how "Sixty Minutes" coverage and I found it quite interesting and wanted to share it with you and add a few thoughts of mine as well.
For beginners, this is a totally new word and to be frank with you, I did not even look it up in the dictionary to find out whether it is genuine or not, but this is how the program translated the word: In essence mammonie is a guy who still lives with his parents at the age of 26+, in short and plain English it means "Mama's boy". These guys have jobs, paying jobs, but still live with their parents in the same room with the same furniture like the one that they were in high school. Mom still cooks their favorite food, cleans their room and does their laundry. One mom even said that she sits up for her son to get home at nights. Parents added that they never even suggest to their sons to leave the house, because they believe that the sons will leave when they are ready.
Oh by the way, this program was taped in Italy and the mammonie is an Italian term for these guys.
Being a naturalized citizen myself, I can totally relate to this subject and can understand where the parents are coming from. I know first hand that this mammonie thing is a definitely a cultural thing and nothing else. This is the way that parents help their children save money during single hood phase in their life to be able to buy a house when they are married. And yes, in my country everyone did get married and stayed married until death does us apart. Where I was born, this is called parenthood.
But I am digressing. My point is not debating whether this is a cultural thing or not or whether they get married or not. I am not even debating whether this is right or wrong. I just don't believe that living with your parents at older age necessarily make you a Mama's boy. I know a lot of men who live in their apartments and are even married, but are still Mama's boy or a mammonie.
Three years ago I was inspired to open a mama's by club as a joke, and you can not believe how many candidates and members I recruited. I had even some honorary seats too!!
I believe that most men in general are mama boys whether they live with their parents or not. They still go to their parents house to watch TV without interruptions and to have their favorite foods. Some still go shopping with their mom, because they like the way that mom pays attention to them while they shop and treat them to lunch afterwards. I know married men that have vacations alone with their mom and call them four to five times a day and tell their mom everything and I MEAN everything to their mom. Most of these men have been away from their moms in college years and had their apartments after graduation. So what do you call these men?
The way I see it, mammonies are all around us and do not necessarily live with their parents. On the contrary, real Mama's boys, mammonies, hate that term and vehemently deny being one, while the ones that live with their parents, and the program called them mammonies, had no trouble talking about their lives with their parents and how much they love it. I find them very smart in financial matters and frankly, I think they make better parents too.
But hey who asks my opinion???
For beginners, this is a totally new word and to be frank with you, I did not even look it up in the dictionary to find out whether it is genuine or not, but this is how the program translated the word: In essence mammonie is a guy who still lives with his parents at the age of 26+, in short and plain English it means "Mama's boy". These guys have jobs, paying jobs, but still live with their parents in the same room with the same furniture like the one that they were in high school. Mom still cooks their favorite food, cleans their room and does their laundry. One mom even said that she sits up for her son to get home at nights. Parents added that they never even suggest to their sons to leave the house, because they believe that the sons will leave when they are ready.
Oh by the way, this program was taped in Italy and the mammonie is an Italian term for these guys.
Being a naturalized citizen myself, I can totally relate to this subject and can understand where the parents are coming from. I know first hand that this mammonie thing is a definitely a cultural thing and nothing else. This is the way that parents help their children save money during single hood phase in their life to be able to buy a house when they are married. And yes, in my country everyone did get married and stayed married until death does us apart. Where I was born, this is called parenthood.
But I am digressing. My point is not debating whether this is a cultural thing or not or whether they get married or not. I am not even debating whether this is right or wrong. I just don't believe that living with your parents at older age necessarily make you a Mama's boy. I know a lot of men who live in their apartments and are even married, but are still Mama's boy or a mammonie.
Three years ago I was inspired to open a mama's by club as a joke, and you can not believe how many candidates and members I recruited. I had even some honorary seats too!!
I believe that most men in general are mama boys whether they live with their parents or not. They still go to their parents house to watch TV without interruptions and to have their favorite foods. Some still go shopping with their mom, because they like the way that mom pays attention to them while they shop and treat them to lunch afterwards. I know married men that have vacations alone with their mom and call them four to five times a day and tell their mom everything and I MEAN everything to their mom. Most of these men have been away from their moms in college years and had their apartments after graduation. So what do you call these men?
The way I see it, mammonies are all around us and do not necessarily live with their parents. On the contrary, real Mama's boys, mammonies, hate that term and vehemently deny being one, while the ones that live with their parents, and the program called them mammonies, had no trouble talking about their lives with their parents and how much they love it. I find them very smart in financial matters and frankly, I think they make better parents too.
But hey who asks my opinion???
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