Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape neurotic Iraqi wife: Let the Countin' Begin......

neurotic Iraqi wife

November 08, 2004

Let the Countin' Begin......

I forgot to mention in yesterday's post about a new Thai regulation that has been installed. As I collected the tickets I asked the lady if we needed visas. She had asked me earlier where I was from, and I had told her Iraq. So when the visa issue was raised, she looked at me as if I had just told her someone died. She said Oh God, Im not sure if you guys can go to Thailand after all. I thought to myself, no, please God no, dont let this happen. I asked why with my voice barely heard. She said cuz you are Iraqis. I said yes we are but we hold different passports. Im a British citizen, and my HUBBY is an American one. Then relief washed over her, and she said Thank God for that, then there's nothing to worry about.

Although I too was relieved but I was curious to know if we were holding Iraqi passports why cant we go. She said that apparantely 4 months ago a law was passed in Thailand from banning Iraqis entering their territory. I was shocked. But why? I asked her. She replied cuz they are afraid from terrorists. OMG, OMG, We terrorists??? I couldnt believe my ears. After 35 years of being under the most sinister regime, during which many countries refused visiting visas for normal Iraqis, till now, we are seen as unwanted. We are seen as terrorists. Its a shame really.

I just remembered an incident that happened with me late August. On my way from London to here on the plane, this Kuwaiti man was seated next to me. Im the type of person that hates chatting on planes, I usually take a novel with me and listen to the inflight music. So there I was after placing the blanket on my knees, and have just started reading my novel, the man starts talking to me. I said to myself, Oh noooo, God, I aint in the mood. He kept talking about planes, and that the fuel they use is kerosene, and he went on talking about how airline companies rent the tyres and that its different from cars, they are not purchased etc etc etc...I just sat there like an idiot nodding my head thank god I didnt get a muscle spasm... As if I really give a damn about tyres. I started praying to God to make this Guy get diarreah after eating his curry and would end up most of the time in the bathroom. But I knew I aint that lucky....

I placed the headphones in my ears hoping that he will get the message, did he???No freakin way. He went on and on and on. I just sat there staring at my novel cursing the guy at the counter who seated this weirdo next to me. As I pretended to read, he said" Why are younger people so interetsed in reading western books and dont read for example arabic newspapers to educate themselves?" And he handed me the bloody newspaper, the nerve of him. So this time I couldnt shut up, I said we Iraqis never stop reading news or politics its part of our everyday life. The minute I mentioned the words WE IRAQIS, his face turned into a mushrom and he said"You are Iraqi??? I thought you were Lebanese???"(lebanese???the idiot couldnt tell the difference between Lebanese dialect and the Iraqi one???) Umm, no Sir Im a 100% Iraqi. "Oh but you dont look Iraqi, you look Lebanese". Hmm now I dont know how Iraqis should "LOOK" like, but I always get such remarks.....

He immdeiately turned his head towards the window and tha,t my friends was the last I heard from him for the rest of the journey, phew. LOL. I relayed the story to HUBBY after I arrived, and told him that I found a cure for stopping people from chatting me up, Just say the magic word IRAQI.....Its sad I know, but I guess he was from Kuwait, and in MY OWN OPINION(please dont take it personally), Kuwaities never liked us and never will. They say they do, but truth should be told, they blame us for what Saddam did, they always will. And the biggest proof, is them asking for the Gulf war debt, of which SADDAM the assole is responsible, not the ordinary Iraqis.

As for them opening the borders to give lee way to the coalition forces, they didnt do it for us, they did it for their own good. There's another incident that took place early in the year, sometime in March. I had to accompany my sister to Egypt, she carries an Iraqi passport. As we arrived at the airport, it was filled with people, waiting in long queues. My sister took both our passports to a side office, an hour and a half later we were able to leave the darn airport. When I asked her why it took so long, she said why else???Cuz we are Iraqis darling. I said but I have a British passport. She said apparantely, the guy did stamp our passports in 5 minutes, but another officer came and told him to wait and not give the passports yet cuz "they are originally Iraqis"

That is why, I dont believe in a single Arab or Non arab government that says we love the Iraqi people and we will do our best to support them. If these words carried an ounce of truth, they would atleast simplify things for Iraqis, and not complicate them. I mean in Saddam times people suffered from getting interrogated by airport officials, and now things just became better and Iraqis are being branded as terrorists, Wowww arent we just the most loved nation in this wide world....

How many more countries will ban Iraqis from entering, Umm, I have no idea, but I have gotten hold of an ABACUS and have started my new mission.....So dear ABACUS, Let the Countin' Begin....

posted by neurotic_wife at 9:36 PM

8 Comments:

You think thats bad, wait till u see how iraqis are treated on bordering checkpoints. Humiliation in its true form

A few yrs back, we were waiting at one of those border places for our passports to be checked.
So in the queue in front of us was this old man getting hollered at by this checkpont guy with a pointy nose (i think t was something to do with the old man not hearing his name the first time)at the end the pointy dude threw the passport at him , and the moment it was our turn just after him with our magic wand (non-iraqi passports) his face changed and he was suddenly smiley jokey guy.
Behind us were a bunch of students who were told to go back across the border (an 8-9 hr journey) because some stamp wasn't very clear on their passports.. they started arguing but i think they got the same treatment

All in all .. not a good place to be in for 4 hrs.. alot of mumbling pissed off ppl walking about.

So you can imagine the gag reflex get when i see these ppl on tv with their crocodile tears and our iraqi brothers crap

November 9, 2004 at 1:35 AM  

That's just sad about the passports. I'm sorry you had to go through that.

November 9, 2004 at 6:36 AM  

This is SO bizarre to me. I don't know why I never thought of this situation. I know if I met an Iraqi I would ask how they feel and be so curious to know them and ask 100 questions...

November 9, 2004 at 7:06 AM  

(In other words - I would be a pain in the ass to sit next to on a plane) LOL!

November 9, 2004 at 8:44 AM  

Seems like we're the opposite when we're on planes. I tend to love talking to people, especially when travelling because that's where you can meet people from all over the world. We all have our ways.

The frustrating thing these days is ever since 9/11 and the war on iraq especially, airport security guards constantly interrogated us everytime we travel, especially my parents!! My parents? Geez..every interrogation would take 2 hours for them to understand we're normal people like the rest of them!! *mumbles*
Oh well...
I do hope everything works out for your trip to Thailand with your husband. Make the most of it :) In 20 years time, you'll look back to today with a big smile on your face inshaAllah.

Keep us all updated!

Sara.

November 9, 2004 at 1:15 PM  

Did I ever mention I was Cuban, we get the same reaction, if we go out on a boat we are smuggler, if we drive down the street we are dealers, one way or the other we are the Miami Mafia. That's how people see us.
The funny thing is that we just play along and dress and act like if we really were the cocaine cartel.
So next time just go with the flow, and act the part. People will leave you alone.

Madtom

November 9, 2004 at 7:35 PM  

hello NW,

you can thank a little of this on your friend and
mine,Osma bin Laden.......(kidding of course about the
friend)


andrea/flannels/minnesota

November 9, 2004 at 9:09 PM  

Stephie, I dont mind being searched at airports, cuz that will put my mind to rest that I will be safe, but to pinpoint someone becuz of nationality, or colour, then thats just racism pure and simple. If its done to everyone else fine, but to get chosen out of a whole queue cuz Im Iraqi, then I wont stand for that.

Dilnareen, which borders, if you dont mind me asking.And it is sad I know, even though I get away with it cuz of my passport, I still feel flabbergasted cuz of the others who didnt get the chance to attain a different nationality and are maltreated.

Jenny, before getting my Uk citizenship I had so many problems, and even now, at times, when I travel, once they see the words born in Baghdad, their eyes tend to eye me a bit suspiciously. Oh well as if I give a damn...

Monicar, then u definitely will be my greatest nightmare,lol. No only kidding, i guess it depends on my mood, if I see the person genuinely interested in Iraq then all hell will break lose and I will be your worst night mare instead. I probably will be pushed out the plane from all the blabbering taht I will say...LOl

Sara, OMG, I cant see myself having a conversation on the plane, except maybe if Moincar was seated next to me asking all these questions about Iraq,lol. apart from that I tend to immerse myself with my novel, and let my mind, drift far far from reality...


Lol madtom, how about you dress like the mafia, and I will dress like the insurgents with a mask over my face, and a knife in my hand. Not funny I know, but hey this is reality...

andrea, no forget bin laden, incidents like these were happening even way before september 11.I blame Saddam the Satan, and bin laden too, and all those assoles who thrive on blood.....

November 10, 2004 at 2:46 PM  

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