Kateeeeer

So I pull up at a gas station, signal to the guy “95” with a friendly smile (this may be a good time to announce my new car)  and the guy gives me no expressions at all…

_______________________________

This is the conversation that took place

Omar: End of Shift?

Dude Working At Gas Station: *silently shook his head*

Omar: ummm… Must be begining of shift.

DWGS: *meh*

Omar: When do you start?

DWGS: Signals with hand 5.

Omar: oh! When do you finish?

DWGS: Signals with hand 6.

Omar: SIX?!!!!

DWGS: Nods… Kateeeeer

_______________________________

I would be very naive to be shocked. I’ve already met (and blogged about) a man working in the desert over 2 years with no vacations and his supervisor keeps stalling on him…

However, it’s been a while since I came across such inhumanity…

I believe in God, and I believe He will ask the employer “Who gave you the right?”

I believe in God, and just as He is The Most Merciful he is the Most Just.

God have mercy on the weak, and bring justice upon those I cannot mention because I am one of the weak…

اللهم حسن الختام

2011
01/01
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Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!

2010
11/11
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According to God

— Scene 1 —
 
I entered the prayer room a bit late at work, actually I was the last one to join the "jama’a" . After prayer (or maybe during?) , I recognized that the imam was the janitor. I also noticed I was the highest rank in this room, if and only if this was a meeting room. But according to God, for this specific prayer I was the lowest rank.
 
I wondered where I stood generally… According to God that is.
 
— Scene 2 —
I thought I’d "pack’ since we’re going to Umra directly after breaking fast at my brother’s place. I grabbed a back pack, two towels and a belt. That’s it!
Here I am, going to the holiest place on earth; paying my creator’s house a visit and all I’m wearing are two towels.
 
I wondered what I was actually wearing… According to God that is.
 
— So ? —
We are generally curious to know how well are we doing, how successful we have become. A good indicator would be the clothes we wear, the cars we drive and the places we afford to go to.
 
I thought I knew the very satisfying answers.
 
But maybe the questions I asked are a bit incomplete… Three words were missing to be specific.
 
According to God… How well am I doing?
According to God… How good do I look?
 
Before I can answer, I need to understand what does God look at first.
 
allahomma husn al khitam (new laptop at work without arabic yet!)
 
2010
08/21
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My contribution to society, inspired by Hadi Masoud

So after hadi’s couragous attempt to end wasta at alahwal, I was
waiting for my moment of unwanted patriotism… 

I came to notice the newly installed fire extenguishers at the airport
parking.

I looked at them from different prospectives: 

 – The Yemeni
 ماشاء الله شوف كيف حكومتهم تعتني بالناس 
 – The Saudi:
 لمواقف ماهي مظللة و غالية، سرقة في
سرقة 
 – The P&Geer 
Fire extenguishers don’t seem maintained periodically 
 – The KFUPM chemical eng.
 Fire extenguishers in the blazing hot sun, they’re bombs waiting to
happen. 
 So I took my unwanted patriotism towards the airport supervisor to
tell him about the danger of the fire extenguishers that didn’t seem
to be periodically maintained.
 He thanked me and clarfied how this is someone else’s mistake. I told
him how if anything happened would be a PR disaster, he agreed. 
 Now let’s wait and see… 
 Omar Alkahily 
The unwanted patriot 
 Sent from my iPhone
2010
03/13
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8 tips on volunteer work

This was meant to be blogged a long way back… It’s some learnings I’ve noticed and/or gathered from others.
1) Not volunteer work. 
Treat this like a job , with results that need to be achieved (i.e feeding the homeless) and a boss to be pleased( I.e god). This will push you to work at full capacity of body with a clear mental focus on the objective. 
 
2) This is volunteer work. 
Keep that in mind when working with others.  This means extra smiles more high fives and random hugs ( where islamically applicable)
هاشم الرائع
3) systemize
Whatever you do, think of the best way it can be done and build a system for it in a sense if you disappear someone else can carry on your job.  
4) Ask 
Even when you want to tell people to do something. Ask, make it "their" suggestion, appreciate "their" suggestion and watch how they will enthusiastically apply "their" suggestion. 
5) Don’t forget you!
Take a break, eat, drink, pray and play. Sustain a healthy balance so you can come tomorrow. 
Mom and almit7ammis
 
6) Stupid Obstacles?
Remember, if we were in a perfect world. Then we wouldn’t need volunteer work to start with. Keep a positive spirit.  
7) Rules? What rules?
We are here to do good. If that means breaking some rules. Then be it. You’ll feel good too!
Khaled Yeslam
8) assholes?
Upon encountering any, please mind the gap.
 Keeping #2 in mind.   
اللهم حسن الختام

2010
01/31
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11 Reasons why I won’t last in Jeddah

1) My lungs were made to breath Oxygen, not carbon monoxide, shit evaporate and other industrial waste.

2)  A little piece of me dies, every time I hear the answer "we don’t have one" when I ask "non smoking section?"
3)  A city where life begins at 10 am is a city very easy to take over.
4) My inner murderer comes closer to the surface every time I see trash flying out of moving cars windows.
5) Any place where smoking anything is a family activity isn’t the place I want to be.
6) In one year, the road in front of my house has been dug up and re(atzaflat) more than 6 times. That’s more than once every two months.
7) It takes me 30 minutes to go to work. On a good day.
8) If everyone’s shopping, who’s doing the thinking?
9) When a flood killed almost a thousand people, newspapers reported 120, officials made sure it wasn’t their fault and the rest were concerned if there’s any "mixing" between the volunteers.
10) Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner are the social activities.
11) I don’t like my underwear getting sticky every time I leave a building to the car.
So yeah, one year in Jeddah. Here’s to the future, wherever I may be.
اللهم حسن الختام
2010
01/07
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The more it hurts, the less you forget

A 5 year old girl would run across the living room trip and fall, only to get up and run again towards another accident.

That same girl, would touch a hot kettle of Tea, and the amount of pain she goes through will ensure how long that kettle remains untouched.
That same example can be reapplied all the way through ones life.
Your first car accident, your first interview (where you weren’t hired!), your first F… etc etc
Now if you cut a red light,  paid a fine the same price you pay for your underwear, you’re very likely to cut the red light again.
However, if you cut a red light, crashed a car, broke two ribs and lost an arm. It’s very unlikely of you to cross a stop sign let alone traffic light.
Does this mean we need to be hurt the most to forget the least? 
Isn’t there a better way?
_____________________________________________
NOTE: I used girl as an example to accommodate the local trend of making anything/everything about women to seem more sophisticated and open minded.
not sent from iphone
2009
11/22
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You are at complete liberty

To do whatever someone else chooses for you… 

 Students choose majors as per daddys "recommendation" 
 Graduates choose jobs as per what society "decided" to be respectful 
 Men choose wives as per mommys "judgement" of significant other 
 Couples design homes according to "what would people say"

…etc etc 

 So yeah, they are your choices and you should deal with the
consequences.
 Sent from my iPhone
2009
11/17
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Root Cause (Part I)

If you go through the last pages of Okaz, you will read stories about how "Human Rights in KSA" are working non-stop to solve a case of a defenseless mother of x number of children (where x >3 ) that was a victim of

a) abusive husband/father/brother/son
b) Father walking out on family leaving all x number of kids without ID to resume a normal life
c) Husband divorces wife leaves her with x number of kids and no where to go.
d) all of the above.
Half Full:
yaay! We have an official organization that supports such cases.
Half Empty:
Our beloved and "just like america" organizations are barely catching up with the infinite number of cases let alone those that don’t reach them. 
They way things are going, it doesn’t seem like the rates are declining either…
If we really wanted to help, we should ask the right questions, we need to hunt down the Root Cause

– Why didn’t anyone tell her who she’s marrying?
– Why can’t a mother identify her children?
– Why did we all hear about "Um X" being abused but didn’t care to intervene until it was too late?
– Why can’t a wife loudly and confidently say "I don’t want his ass" and walk away?
I don’t have the answers, but is anyone asking?
2009
11/13
CATEGORY
Health and wellness
2 comments

The small things

With the whole globe shrinking into a village , I feel like the small
thing aren’t being appreciated anymore. Having them for granted could
be the reason.

Since I don’t smoke or drink coffee, I thought I’d use the break to
list the small things in my life that I would hug if they were human :

 1) the tree infront of our house that I sit under when I’m locked out
at noon.
 2) my "easily distracted" tshirt that people see on me and say "very!!"
 3) ice cream at the work place, I don’t always buy it. Just knowing
there’s ice cream at work in case of emergency is reassuring!
 4) passing by the courniche on your way to work. 
 5) the imam making ruko3 longer so you can catchup when he hears the
door open. 
 6) "excuse me, excuse me I think you dropped this" 
 7) when ❤ turns Into a tiny heart on facebook 
 8) when kids smile bit there are no teeth there!

9) buy 1 get 1 free. You actually need one but having an extra is
even better (I.e. Batteries, chocolate) 

10) laughing til you’re teary. And everytime you remember that moment
you still laugh til you’re teary.
 اللهم لك الحمد 
 Sent from my iPhone
2009
11/06
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