every time i read an article written by my colleague abdulmohsen al-jarallah al-kharafi in al-qabas daily, i experience joy and pride over the quality of our people, their originality, generosity, piety and purity in times of adversity.
i am older than al-jarallah and i dare say i have experienced life as much as he has done. i have merged to different categories of kuwaiti people either as a banker or as a columnist. i have been a merchant for nearly 60 years. however, i am sorry to say the good descriptions mentioned in the condolences written by al-jarallah regarding some deceased individuals are not in line with what i have witnessed in my personal dealings with them, despite the fact that i believe kuwaiti citizens are really distinguished in some aspects. by the way, this will be the topic of my upcoming article.
my colleague al-jarallah does not hesitate to give good qualities to all who he deplores, portraying kuwaitis as though they are a group of devout angels and there are no devils, swindlers, stingy individuals or people known for ill-treating others.
if we go back to history of the collapse of manakh market (the unofficial exchange market in kuwait) in the early 1980s, we will come across some horrible stories of how brothers betrayed their own brothers, how a brother sent his own brother to jail, a son sued his father, and a sister stole the money of her brother and vice versa. i was also victimized by two individuals. one of them passed away but the other is enjoying with the money he stole from me; maybe while he is reading this article.
al-jarallah describes one of those two individuals as devout and conscientious individual who lived his life in a relaxed and calm manner and whose prayers are answered by god because he loves to do good for others. my question is - how does al-jarallah know if this guy lived his life in a relaxed and calm manner?
the history of kuwait and kuwaitis is filled with true stories related to chivalry and generosity; nobody can deny this fact. however, portraying all kuwaiti citizens in such bright and semi-fictional manner is a different story.
meanwhile, a friend and reader told me he had long resisted the idea of using social media especially whatsapp. however, he eventually submitted to pressures from his friends and family members mainly due to their desire to avoid spending money on phone calls, since calling via social media is a free service. he succumbed to their desire but i wish he did not do so. the fi rst few months passed peacefully, and his phone hardly rang while he is outside kuwait; however, when he was in kuwait, he never responded to any whatsapp calls.
later the members of the diwaniya came to know he has whatsapp. within just two days, he received more than 160 messages from two friends. he was confused about what he should do in response to such undesired generosity. he had no time or desire to read and go through all these messages, videos and silly jokes. on the other hand, he did not want to ignore them and delete their messages because he did not want his friends to feel sad or think that he did not answer their messages out of arrogance.
on the behalf of my friend and myself, i call upon all whatsapp users to minimize the number of messages they send to the minimum. we lived most of our lives without whatsapp and we did not lose too much; we can manage without it. or we should at least use this service in a balanced manner so that we do not transform it from a gift to an affliction. we have to use it in a manner that it will not become a tool of torture and waste of time.