neurotic Iraqi wife
October 23, 2006
An Age of Ignorance
You know something. Im sick and tired of being somber. So hopefully this is gonna be one of those easy going posts. And I say hopefully. A few days ago, I went to collect my MNFI badge, in the Convention Center since theyve stopped issuing DOD cards to non US citizens long time ago. It was the second day of my spider bite and so my pinky was pretty bad. As I went into the office, the guy told me that theyve made a mistake on my badge and that I have to go through the whole process of finger prints and picture taking. So I sat there waiting for my turn. A guy came out of one of the booths, and called my name. I went in.
He looked at my pinky and said "ouch". There was another guy (who looked like a total jerk) sitting on the opposite side of the booth. Sittin doin nothin. So he said to his colleague "hey man, you better wear a glove". And actually Mr A did take out one of those clinical gloves and put it on. I looked at him and said "Umm I dont have a disease, this is just a spider bite" He looked at me, answered"sorry maam just taking precautions" I smiled and said, yeah I guess you have to, or the spider will come and bite you.
During these sessions, they take every finger print of every finger, and 5 photos. Two profile ones, 2 looking diagonally (both sides) and 1 looking straight at the cam. Its just like being taken into custody for a fellany. The only fun part is when they twirl you in the seat for the photographs. So anyways. As the guy tried to have my prints registering on the machine, Mr B, started becoming an A**. Hey you born in "eyerak" He asks with his loud voice tearing at my eardrums. No I say Im born in "Eeraq" not "eyerak".He starts bellowing with horrendous laughter. "We have a smart one here man" he goes on saying to Mr A. what you doin with a British passport??? I lived there I answered. You anorexic he asks. I looked at him and said no why??? Man I need to feed you. Wait lemme look in my drawer I may have a bag of chips.
Meanwhile Mr A is trying his best to get my prints, but the darn machine isnt accepting the image cuz my prints are too fine. So Mr B continues to make smirk remarks. He starts rummaging in his drawer, then his cabinet, then says in a horrible voice "Oh Gawd, oh mannnnn, I need to feed you, look at her mannnnn, she is tiny, I mean I have never seen someone like this, Im sure youre the type that pukes out the food, yeah you are anorexic arent you???" THIS GUY WAS SO VULGAR. I just kept quiet and continued with the fingerprinting. After awhile, Mr A got so fed up cuz of the machine, so he started offing and puffing. Mr B then says "Hey man just cut her hand off" By then, he was getting so much under my skin that I couldnt keep it inside, I looked straight at him and said "INteresting... is that the American way of doing things???" He laughed and said "well its better than the "Eyeraki" way and the chopping of heads!!!"
Hmmm...The eyeraqi way....I explained in a very nice manner, that NO this is not an "EEraqi" habit and was never one. But it left a very sour taste in me. I mean this guy is someone who I presume lives here, so he must know whats goin on. He must know that this is Al Qaeda's way of doing business and NOT the IRAQI way!!! Ofcourse he continued talkin about anorexia and puking and trying to find something to feed me. Oh and not forgetting the "Oh maaaaaaaannnnnn" comment. AFter 20 mins of oh mans and loud laughter I was finally DONE. As I was exiting the room, I said btw :Anorexia is when you starve yourself, Bulimic is when you eat then force yourself to throw up. And gave them one of my nastiest fake smiles. Felt good I tell you. I bet you anything they will make another mistake on my application just to spite me....
The office was virtually empty today except for a few people, because of the Eid vacation. I saw a colleague of mine and said to her "Happy Eid" She immediately looked disdainfully at me and said "My Eid is tomorrow, Im still fasting" Hmm, I said, well, Happy Eid in advance then. After a few minutes I bumped into one of the Iraqi maintenance guys. I smiled happily and said "Happy Eid to you" Its not OUR eid today its the "Wahabbis" (a very disrespectful way of calling Sunni's that, I mean I dunno why, we cant be civil to one another) Eid, he spat out. Ours is tomorrow. OMG, I thought to myself. Maybe its better I dont even mention happy or eid to anyone. So I became really cautious. Whenever I saw someone instead of telling them Happy Eid, I would just ask "Are you celebrating Eid TODAY or TOMORROW?" If the answer is today I will tell them Have a happy one, if answer is tomorrow, I will say oh ok, then Happy eid in advance.
I mean it became such a sensitive issue that I dont even feel like saying it to anyone, incase I offend anybody. Talk about people being real uptight. Its ridiculus really. We are living in the same country, looking at the same sky, breathing the same air, yet we see the moon differently. How is that possible, I have no idea. Why cant we for once, just once unite on one thing. We never had such anonimosity towards each other like now. Never. Most of my family are intermarried, and I know many many more of the same. But now I hear stories of men divorcing their wives after 20 or 30 years of marriage because of the difference in Sects. And usually its not the man or the woman's wish, it is forced upon them by family or tribe. Wowwww... Instead of becoming an advanced country, we have become one that was worse than the Jahiliya era. The pre-Islamic Arabian age of ignorance, marked by barbarism and unbelief.
An Age of Ignorance...
Footnote: due to the many complaints of new template, I decided that whether Today is Eid or tomorrow, its time to give my blog a nice Iraqi flag colour, hope this is more satisfactory to the eyes!!! Im sorry Ive been playing with the colours to see what looks better. Still need to fix the parameters, bare with me ;-)
He looked at my pinky and said "ouch". There was another guy (who looked like a total jerk) sitting on the opposite side of the booth. Sittin doin nothin. So he said to his colleague "hey man, you better wear a glove". And actually Mr A did take out one of those clinical gloves and put it on. I looked at him and said "Umm I dont have a disease, this is just a spider bite" He looked at me, answered"sorry maam just taking precautions" I smiled and said, yeah I guess you have to, or the spider will come and bite you.
During these sessions, they take every finger print of every finger, and 5 photos. Two profile ones, 2 looking diagonally (both sides) and 1 looking straight at the cam. Its just like being taken into custody for a fellany. The only fun part is when they twirl you in the seat for the photographs. So anyways. As the guy tried to have my prints registering on the machine, Mr B, started becoming an A**. Hey you born in "eyerak" He asks with his loud voice tearing at my eardrums. No I say Im born in "Eeraq" not "eyerak".He starts bellowing with horrendous laughter. "We have a smart one here man" he goes on saying to Mr A. what you doin with a British passport??? I lived there I answered. You anorexic he asks. I looked at him and said no why??? Man I need to feed you. Wait lemme look in my drawer I may have a bag of chips.
Meanwhile Mr A is trying his best to get my prints, but the darn machine isnt accepting the image cuz my prints are too fine. So Mr B continues to make smirk remarks. He starts rummaging in his drawer, then his cabinet, then says in a horrible voice "Oh Gawd, oh mannnnn, I need to feed you, look at her mannnnn, she is tiny, I mean I have never seen someone like this, Im sure youre the type that pukes out the food, yeah you are anorexic arent you???" THIS GUY WAS SO VULGAR. I just kept quiet and continued with the fingerprinting. After awhile, Mr A got so fed up cuz of the machine, so he started offing and puffing. Mr B then says "Hey man just cut her hand off" By then, he was getting so much under my skin that I couldnt keep it inside, I looked straight at him and said "INteresting... is that the American way of doing things???" He laughed and said "well its better than the "Eyeraki" way and the chopping of heads!!!"
Hmmm...The eyeraqi way....I explained in a very nice manner, that NO this is not an "EEraqi" habit and was never one. But it left a very sour taste in me. I mean this guy is someone who I presume lives here, so he must know whats goin on. He must know that this is Al Qaeda's way of doing business and NOT the IRAQI way!!! Ofcourse he continued talkin about anorexia and puking and trying to find something to feed me. Oh and not forgetting the "Oh maaaaaaaannnnnn" comment. AFter 20 mins of oh mans and loud laughter I was finally DONE. As I was exiting the room, I said btw :Anorexia is when you starve yourself, Bulimic is when you eat then force yourself to throw up. And gave them one of my nastiest fake smiles. Felt good I tell you. I bet you anything they will make another mistake on my application just to spite me....
The office was virtually empty today except for a few people, because of the Eid vacation. I saw a colleague of mine and said to her "Happy Eid" She immediately looked disdainfully at me and said "My Eid is tomorrow, Im still fasting" Hmm, I said, well, Happy Eid in advance then. After a few minutes I bumped into one of the Iraqi maintenance guys. I smiled happily and said "Happy Eid to you" Its not OUR eid today its the "Wahabbis" (a very disrespectful way of calling Sunni's that, I mean I dunno why, we cant be civil to one another) Eid, he spat out. Ours is tomorrow. OMG, I thought to myself. Maybe its better I dont even mention happy or eid to anyone. So I became really cautious. Whenever I saw someone instead of telling them Happy Eid, I would just ask "Are you celebrating Eid TODAY or TOMORROW?" If the answer is today I will tell them Have a happy one, if answer is tomorrow, I will say oh ok, then Happy eid in advance.
I mean it became such a sensitive issue that I dont even feel like saying it to anyone, incase I offend anybody. Talk about people being real uptight. Its ridiculus really. We are living in the same country, looking at the same sky, breathing the same air, yet we see the moon differently. How is that possible, I have no idea. Why cant we for once, just once unite on one thing. We never had such anonimosity towards each other like now. Never. Most of my family are intermarried, and I know many many more of the same. But now I hear stories of men divorcing their wives after 20 or 30 years of marriage because of the difference in Sects. And usually its not the man or the woman's wish, it is forced upon them by family or tribe. Wowwww... Instead of becoming an advanced country, we have become one that was worse than the Jahiliya era. The pre-Islamic Arabian age of ignorance, marked by barbarism and unbelief.
An Age of Ignorance...
Footnote: due to the many complaints of new template, I decided that whether Today is Eid or tomorrow, its time to give my blog a nice Iraqi flag colour, hope this is more satisfactory to the eyes!!! Im sorry Ive been playing with the colours to see what looks better. Still need to fix the parameters, bare with me ;-)
25 Comments:
NIW;
Good to see you back in form.
When I opened your page today I thought it was Christmas with the red/green motif! I remember one person criticizing your previous colors saying it was heard to read. These new colors do stand out more and you explained that they are the Iraqi flag colors, so I will try and erase the Christmas thoughts from my mind.
NIW,
I cannot believe the comments of Mr. B toward you. That is totally inappropriate.
Any chance of your husband transferring to the green zone?
Man, what a jerk that guy is. I am impressed you kept your cool...I would have totally gone crazy on him!
I liked the "eyeraki" vs. "eeraki" debate. It made me sad, though, when you talked about the "no, eid is tomorrow" reaction from some. I, for one is from what you called "intermarried" sort of family, we never had this shit (sorry for saying it, but I can't take it anymore). This is horrible, to have premitive people only ruling and controling the government - and I am not refering to the Iraqi governement, only, I am refering to that mister A and B you met and their comment about chopping heads!
Every day, there are scientists, professors, academic staff,even technical personnel in various fields in society. All honest people among Iraqis are getting killed every day. It tears my heart to pieces when I hear about the killing of people who would be a treasure for Iraq and its progress. In the meantime, satellite channels interview what they call themselves politicians. They better look at themselves in the mirror: faces full of Pessimism, don't know how to shave their beards, or choose the right suit or clothing. As someone put it: better give some of those a job of garbage collector rather than a politician.
All this cannot be a big problem if they are doing anything for their people. They are not, THEY ARE NOT DOING ANYTHING.
NIW,
Mr. Vulgar B was so rude with you, how could you stay calm?
If I were you I would have used the Eccological pressurized gas again...
What a shame??
تلكيه هو فد واحد من الشارع جاي و صاير براسه خير ديشتغل ؟؟؟؟
NIW,
I commend you on your composure while having to sit there while these two scumbags exchanged the only I.Q. point they had between them.
I could just hear the redneck in their voices. You typed their accents very well, ha ha!
Sorry you had to put up with that anorexia garbage. Maybe their wives are huge, if they have any at all and don't know when to push themselves away from the table. What a couple of Bastards.
Melanie
Thanx Bob. Im trying. Its difficult to be one's self when you are surrounded by negativity...
Lol Anon, actually I thought it looked like Christmas too, which is nice but I think it looked too bright, so I changed colours around.
OJ, well there are loads of Mr B's around, thank God there arent any where I work, or else I wouldnt have lasted this long. HUBBY is in the GZ, but not in the same area as I am in.
DS, I knowwwww...Im surprised at myself cuz I usually am known for my not so sweet tongue!!! At the same, I do need the badge badly to get around, so I guess had to zip it. Bes bleieve me, if it was other circumstances I woulda probably slapped the guy!!!
Yup Mixmax, this is exactly what happened to me. It shocked me. I wasnt ready for such reaction. I myself am married to someone from a different sect, whats the big deal???Its the takhaluf, and the so called people who pretend to be "maraji3" that brainwash people...
Lol MM, thats exactly right. You are spot on. He is one of those low lives around....Yuckkkk
Thanx Melanie, as I mentioned to DS, if it wasnt for the darn badge I would have really answered back...I was gonna say to him :sheesh if thats the way you flirt with someone, then I feel really sorry for your girlfirends!!!"
Hmmmm, I haven't been back in awhile. I see you've been redecorating. Have you been over to Sooni's site lately? He's got some really easy on the eyes colors. And no it wasn't me that complained before. :)
Yup, that guy sounded like a jerk. It's not polite to mention someones weight one way or the other.
Sorry to hear about the Eid business. Not nice at all.
Your tampering with ur templates has worked out fine. Your blog looks nicer now and its easier to read ur words with the clear, bright, white background. How did U get this done? Its really beautiful. The last time I tried to change my templates, I lost my settings and had to start all over again. Now my motto is BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY so no more tweaking with templates.
Happy Eid in arrears!!!
If those guys were American gov't employees and were Americans, please understand those jerkoffs don't represent what were about. The way you were quoting them, it sounded like they were a couple backwater stick, ignorant, jerkoffs that just got a lucky job or something to that effect. If I was in your position (being a woman), I would've slapped him. We are taught never to raise our hands up against a woman. I doubt they would've done a thing. Anyways, Happy Eid!
Hey...
I swear to u walla, when I read this I got so angry I wanted to go there and kick their asses so hard cuz of them treating u this way. It's maybe my 'eyeraki' blood.
However, what u did was right.
Morons.
Seriously, once you have the badge you need, find out who Mr. B's superior is and file a complaint against him. There's no excuse for his rude and ignorant behavior. Apparently, he's such a moron that he thought he was being amusing. He really shouldn't be working with the public in any capacity.
I'm going to play a bit of devil's advocate...or really just channel mother's everywhere.
You've mentioned your weight loss yourself in several posts. And while the fool Mr. B was completely out of line to comment on your personal appearance, let alone go on and on divulging his own ignorance, you and I both know you're underweight.
More ice cream trips with hubby. No more skipping meals.
Bring that bottled water when people warn you to!
Winter is coming and you've already been sick too often.
What would your mother say?
Oh, you already know the answer to that one!
She's already worried sick. She shouldn't have to worry about you eating, because you have complete control over that part of your life.
Get your weight back up and then send her a nice picture update:)
Hi NIW,
Was just wondering if you went to the Blue Star last night? My Hubby went there for dinner. He actually left here(Oz)Sunday night but due to road blocks hasnt been able to get to his hotel in the Red Zone. I thought maybe you would have noticed him...or smelled him!!! He had this great idea of just having carry on baggage for the flight home so he gets through customs quicker which means just a backpack for the trip back to Baghdad. So after you pack the laptop and other paperwork it doesnt leave much room for socks and jocks LOL. If you see a dirty looking Aussie say Hi for me.
Stay safe
Suzy
Hmm, as a dedicated smoker I sometimes forget to eat enough, especially when things get tough. Seems we deserve this anorexic story, it's familiar to me, too. Once a coworker said he was sure one would hear my bones rattle when engaged in a certain *censored*.
I don't know how to deal with Americans, but if this situation had happened here, I'd have asked them either to ask their superiors if they agree on their anorexia/beheading-theories or to give me a written statement.
That man was so rude! I'm so impressed with how you handled the situation, I would not have done such a good job.
Could you please explain something to me, why is Eid different for some people? I don't understand much about it, and would love to learn more. Thanks!
Well, you reminded me of a an Iraqi joke.
Time: Judgement Day. A man has just been resurected from his grave. He notices the man in a near grave did not rise.
So he thrusts his hand into the grave awaking his neighbor:
-Hey..wake up it is the judgement day!!
-Never mind..my judgement day is tomorrow!! I'm a Shiite.
Age of ignorance post: as a latino US is my adopted home, and I can assure you not all Americans are that rude or ignorant, un-fortunately in all societies you have peole that can only feel better by downgrading other people.
Guess that geek gives all americans a bad name, send him out of the green zone and watch him S#!T in his pants, that pendejo.
"Oh Gawd, oh mannnnn, I need to feed you, look at her mannnnn, she is tiny, I mean I have never seen someone like this, Im sure youre the type that pukes out the food, yeah you are anorexic arent you???"
Shinha almayana alzafra!!!!!!!!
I envy you for your calmness.
I mean this guy is someone who I presume lives here, so he must know whats goin on.
Not necessarily. Some chose to stay in their own shell of stupidity.
"Eyeraki" way and the chopping of heads!!!"
They opened the doors for those killers and they name it now Eyraki way!!! And what’s the American way besides open doors, raping innocent girls while protecting their own country which is thousands of miles a way? Hmmm…. Interesting!!
And what’s Eyeraki is anyway? Didn’t know they have native shroog!!!!
“incase I offend anybody.”
You’re not offending anyone. They are doing it to themselves voluntarily.
"OJ, well there are loads of Mr B's around, thank God there arent any where I work, or else I wouldnt have lasted this long. HUBBY is in the GZ, but not in the same area as I am in."
It's weird that suck type are working inside the green zone. They usually put them in the red zone to be rude to us.
I've seen a lot like him outside the green zone and even out of Iraq mostly are those who work in IZ and on vacation in Jordan to leave to somewhere else. They look down at Iraqis whether they were women or men.
such*
Traveller girl,
'Id ul-Fidr or Eid al-Fitr starts when the new moon is sighted. In Iran it started on sunday, in other countries like Egypt, Turkey, Yemen, UAE, Saudi-Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and the Palestinian territories it started on Monday.
I know that the Mufti of Lebanon declared Monday, but I don't know how the Shiites deal with it.
Yup That guy was a big loser. And no, I know that this is not your typical American person, cuz I do have many good American friends whose manners definitely do not compare to Mr B. He did seem like someone who cant believe he landed a job here. I kept my calm this time but I definitely wont keep it next time... It makes me really sad to see that people like him are given sensitive jobs like this one. This guy gets to deal with alot of Iraqis and I dont even want to contemplate the way he treats them...Its a shame really...
Lol miraj, ya mayana ya ba6eekh, chinit ra7 akufkha bes it7ammalit kulla 3alamood il badge...
448 pm anon, yes I have to admit, I am underweight, and I dont mind my family complaining, CUZ THEY ARE MY FAMILY but for a total stranger, especially one with that guy's attitude, is none of his damn business...I think with the dfac junk food, and the blue star's yummy food, I will definitely gain some weight, and I will take your advice and send a pic to my mom, just to make her happy,lol...
I too was shocked by how those two crackers treated you. They wouldn't DARE treat a woman that way where they come from - their mothers might very well disown them!
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