I have a new baby niece … please meet Mira, born on April 29th, 2006 at 10:30 P.M.!

The minute she got out of delivery room

In the nursery

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There are so many things in life one can get addicted to; smoking, alcohol, food, sex, drugs and many other things. Internet has earned its place in the addictive list and I think a lot of us can relate. However; JO Magazine states in its issue this month that the new addictions are far from what we have known so far!

The new addictions are PC games believe it or not, and they listed the top tem finalists. Going over the list; I recognized some of them but others were fairly new to me, and I am telling you: when I explored them online, boy oh boy! These things are really dangerous and that is exactly what the article was titled; Dangerous Toys!

So let’s go over the list together:

10- This one was new to me; but I really enjoyed it. It’s called The HeroMachine. You can use this nice software to create your own super hero character just like I did here:

Check it out at: http://www.ugo.com/channels/comics/heroMachine2/heroMachine2.asp

9- Who doesn’t know this one? Tetris has always been a favorite for many of us, right?

The location specified in the magazine does not have the game any more, so in order to get it go to: http://www.ebaumsworld.com/tetris.html

8- Another new; Exploding Dog is a site that displays drawings of this character with a bubble head, and you can lose track of time going over them,

You can get this here: http://www.explodingdog.com

7- Google EARTH and need I say more?

and of course you can get it here: http://earth.google.com/

6- I experienced addiction with this one first hand; Bejewelled can really grab you if you are not careful!

Here is the location: http://www.popcap.com/

5- GROW is another new and I can’t say I figured it out!

You can find it here: http://www.eyezmaze.com/ and please tell me if you know how this thing works!

4- Happy Tree Friends is apparently one of these venting channels where you get to watch all these cartoon characters get tortured; talk about weird stuff!

If interested, here is where you can find this twisted fun: http://mondo.happytreefriends.com/

3- Spider Solitaire; this one can really give you a headache; at least that’s what it does to me!

I don’t need to tell you where you can find this one, right?

2- Snake and I really hate this one; not fun!

If you like this one, here is where you can get it: http://www.gginc.biz/games/snake/snake1.jsp

1- Virtual Bubble Wrap; just WOW!

Great waste of time here: http://www.urban75.com/Mag/bubble.html

You have been warned! Be careful with these toys or you will end up with another addiction to deal with!

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A few years ago, I attended a seminar with an expert who is considered a guru in Customer Service; Ron Kaufman. Mr. Kaufman went on an on about how we should upgrade from customer service concept to customer satisfaction, and then from the latter to customer delight! Remembering this now, after the lousy couple of days I had; I wish to God that Mr. Kaufman never sets foot in our country!

Mr. Kaufman is roaming the world teaching professionals how to upgrade to customer delight, summing up his knowledge in a great book called Up Your Service, and we are here still struggling with what customer service really is?!

In our world; there is no real meaning for phrases like: the customer is always right! Customer service agents do not realize that they are holding these jobs because they are supposed to serve the customer and make sure that he is content and happy with the product/service provided by his/her company, but what we are witnessing here is that the poor customer does all he/she could to keep the customer service agent happy!

Think about it; why would you even call the company if you did not need any help or service? Yet, these agents hiding behind phone lines or counters are rude enough to treat you like you were an insect that is bugging them and they have turned it into an art to make you feel like an idiot, as if you are supposed to know everything like they do. It is like they want to tell you that you messed up their calm uneventful day by your stupid call, you stupid you!

You can hear it in their voices over the phone that they hate your guts and they hate the fact that they had to answer your call. You can tell that they have this huge frown and wish that you would not ask another question so that they can go back to whatever they were doing, maybe they were playing a computer game or just too sleepy to order their brains to start working. What is even worse is when you can see them when you are getting the so called service face to face; like say when you are in a bank or trying to pay for groceries; don’t you just hate it how they start talking to each other as if you don’t exist? What makes them think that you don’t have anything better to do at that moment?

What makes this even worse and more tragic is that even when they know that they are wrong and that they made a mistake, they do not apologize to you, and they never ever smile! Are they that arrogant that your business is not important to them? Are they that not loyal to the company and they couldn’t care less if it lost or gained you as a long term client? Or is it ignorance pure and simple?

We see large companies with hundreds of employees and fancy titles, their organization charts can fill a whole wall, each manager has managers and those report yet to more directors, those directors report to boards and boards to shareholders and the list goes on. They have departments for everything but they are all bubbles in the air that burst with the first customer experience.

I am really sick and tired of all these incompetent operators who do not know the ABC of phone manners, I have had enough of slow cashiers who take ages swapping items through the machine neglecting the line of people piling up waiting for their turn, I can’t stand rude workers who do not know anything about their workplaces and cannot answer simple questions, I am fed up with staffs just hanging around for the sake of it and run away at the sign of a customer avoiding eye contact and pretending to be busy with something else and most of all; I am really disgusted with agents who think they are smart and treat me as if I am stupid!

Owners and managers of companies really need to train their people and carve it in their heads that the customer comes first and that he (the customer) is the reason there is a company/bank/organization/supermarket in the first place.

Customers, on the other hand, need to stand up for their rights and never accept mediocre treatment; you are paying to be served and if that does not guarantee you the good service you deserve, then maybe you should work harder on the attitude and make them serve you they way you like whether they like it or not. I can’t even count how many times I had to snap at one of these agents who literally drove me crazy!

Needless to say; customer service is still a weird concept in the Arab World at large, and there Mr. Kaufman trying to upgrade their service to satisfaction and then to delight. My guess; it will be many years before we see this happening here, that is unfortunately of course!

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Virginity has proven to be the most taboo of the taboos in the Middle East and probably in many other places around the globe, however; Arabs are more obsessed with it than any other nation. As the epitome of honor, virginity issue is the line that you cannot cross and sometimes; you cannot even talk about or discuss even with the closest of your family members and friends.

My favorite magazine VIVA digs deeper in the hidden secrets of women in the Middle East and talks about their obsession with virginity versus their desires, self restraint and will power. It also discusses the remedies and lengths these women would go for to escape inevitable consequences that, in most cases, might lead to their deaths.

A spectacular article in the April issue, under the title “White Lies”, sheds the light on this growing phenomenon in our communities. Overlooking or even denying that such acts does not mean that they are not happening for real. Research and statistics show that it is a very serious matter that is affecting more people every day.

So the girl does the ultimate sin and loses her virginity before she is married, a guy proposes to her and she is faced with a very critical situation as her secret will be out in the open and she will soil the family name and honor, and she might get herself killed in the process. What is she to do if this happens?

The article shows that there is an increasing phenomenon in our communities nowadays; for a few hundred dollars; a woman can restore her virginity and replace her hymens a little before their wedding nights to make sure that it will break in her first night with her husband, as the sign of blood seems to be the only way to prove that she was a virgin; her husband and her whole family would be relieved that she will have maintained the family honor till the end.

This operation is called hymenoplasty; it is performed in secret because it is illegal. In most cases; the doctor will perform the surgery in his clinic unless it was meant to be for long term results, which needs more time and precision to make sure all goes well, so the doctor performs it in a hospital under another medical condition and it passes as such.

The statistics stated by doctors are quite shocking; as one of the doctors in Lebanon says that he makes this operation for at least 80 women per year, and that the highest number of cases are done in the summer because it is a marriage season and girls want their fake virginities before the wedding. A doctor in Egypt says that he does it 2-3 times a week. Other doctors in the west state that the majority of their clients are Arab women who want to fix the problem before their weddings, but other clients want the surgery for other varying reasons. The operation is perfectly legal in the west and is classified as cosmetic.

Arabs lives are marked by double standards; men sleep around with many women but when it is time to get married; they want a chaste woman with a pristine past; she must be a virgin and he must be the first man in her life. Women want to live their lives like men but the responsibility of their family honor lies on their shoulders, so she is not as free as her male peer to do what ever she desires; and if she ever did, she cannot easily get away with it like he can.

Putting aside religious and cultural aspects aside, and digging into the reality of the situation; where have we reached and what the heck is going on in our societies? Girls sleeping around before they get married and lose their virginities to men that are not worthy; they claim that they did it out of love and because the guy promised to marry them; blah blah blah.

On the other hand; men have been sleeping around for ages and virginity is no issue for them because they don’t need to prove that they were not playful; in fact; they are even proud of it and brag about it. To them; the will power of women has become a challenge and they would do anything to test it and see how far can she go before she gives up and gives in; after they get what they want; poof! They are out of the door and out of their lives leaving them to deal with the consequences of their mistakes; their life altering mistakes.

Another variable has been added to the equation; the doctors who believe in their hearts that they are the knights in shining armors saving the lives of these girls by giving them the fake hymens and saving the day with a few drops of blood in the wedding night.

This is really sad and pathetic.

Honor is not measured and evaluated by the bloody sheets of the wedding night; it is not a so narrow concept to be degraded to this low level. Women who want to fool around can do that and keep their virginity intact, and men of today are aware of this difficult equation and help her out. Where does trust fit in the equation then?

Many questions come to my mind; women who choose to sleep around out of wedlock; if they are convinced that what they are doing is wrong, why do it in the first place and then run around seeking a surgeon to restore her chastity? Men who sleep around with women out of wedlock; if you are so free and have no problem in having intimate relationships with women, why do you insist on having a virgin wife and leave the others that you soiled to deal with the consequences?

Is it the forbidden fruit that keeps people obsessed and base their whole lives on lies? How does a man make sure that he is marrying a real or a fake virgin if the blood is his only proof? When people make choices, why do they run away afterwards and don’t stand by their decisions and defend them if they were not doing anything wrong? Why not choose a path and stick by it?

The level that we have sunk to is very low and it makes me very sad. We live in a culture driven by strict traditions and religion and we cannot deny that abiding by them is the best way to lead our lives on the right path. It is wrong to import habits and try to apply them in a place where they don’t fit as this will only lead to more broken bones in the body of the community that we really need to keep clean and healthy. These words address both men and women equally as we are in this together.

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Blogging world has introduced us to new dimensions of human communications; it has opened a large window of opportunity for over zealous talented individuals to be committed to their blogs and their readers, and that is the foremost motivation that keeps them going and interacting with the whole world through this very easy tool that is available to all of us.

What makes blogging even more exciting is the direct interaction with the audience and the immediate feedback.

Since the main feature of the blogs is the fact that they represent a personal point of view, this causes many conflicts between the blogger and the readers, and among the readers themselves. Just how many times we have read long debates on certain posts and maybe even participated in some of these debates, especially when the post is highly controversial.

Having said that; I think you all agree with me that the comments represent another active means of communication that should be governed by guidelines and etiquette, just like any other communication method. Since we have witnessed many a time how some comments cross the lines of common courtesy; I got interested in investigating more about this and see if there are such rules that are worth mentioning.

So, I took a virtual trip around the virtual globe searching for the unwritten guidelines and decided that I would post them on my blog hoping to help is increasing awareness about this very important issue, so here we go;

Before I go into details about the guidelines; remember that as a commentator who wants to reply to a certain post and/or comment, you are a guest in the blogger’s virtual house which is the blog, hence; you are obligated to show the minimum level of respect and courtesy towards the owner and his other guests (other commentators).

So, before you decide to post your comment, keep the following guidelines in mind:

-         Read the whole post before you add your comment and I mean read it; do not skim through it or just read one or two lines of each paragraph.

-          Make your comment relevant to the post topic as much as possible. If you do not have anything to add, simply don’t comment.

-          Helpful criticism and lively debate are the point of comments.  It is easy to offer the first and have the second while obeying guidelines and maintaining a courteous dialogue; even if you think low of the point of view presented in the post and/or comments, do not express ridicule or underestimate the other point of view in an offensive manner.

-          Never assume that you know the people behind the blog and/or comments and judge them according to your convictions; always leave room for constructive discussion.

-          If for any reason you felt negatively provoked by a post and/or a comment; do not post your own comment immediately. In other words; do not be reactive and lose the edge of the debate, rather be responsive and wait for a sufficient period of time before you start pouring your mind/heart in your comment.

-          Try not to leave irrelevant links in the body of your comment as the blogger would not appreciate so many exit points from his post to something that is not directly related. Besides; you are already given the opportunity to post a link to your own blog in the personal information section; benefit from it.

-          Do not blatantly promote yourself. An interesting comment will make people investigate you, and that is better than any commercial you could write.

-          Keep the cursing and profanity and vulgarity to a minimum. There might be kids reading that specific blog, parents read it, spouses read it, friends read it … etc. Intelligent people who can follow an argument without having key points highlighted for them by gratuitous uses of offensive words also read that blog, so do your best to be as polite and courteous as possible.

-          If you feel that a certain debate is taking a more personal aspect between you and the blogger/another commentator, take it offline and use other means of communication to end it.

-          If you choose to comment anonymously; the least you can do is sign the comment with your first name or initials, however; if you insist on anonymity; make sure that your comment follows the guidelines and don’t take advantage of your anonymous status and hide behind it to attack everyone else.

-          Make sure you follow lingual guidelines, such as:

o        Never use “All” Capital letters in your comment because like email and chat communication, capital letters are equal to SHOUTING!

o        Use short sentences and paragraphs if your comment is longer than usual

o        Limit the use of acronyms and abbreviations unless they are familiar to everyone.

o        Review your comment before posting it for spelling, grammar, correct punctuation, general content (does the comment say clearly what you want to say?) and general readability (is the comment logical, clear and easy to understand?)

I hope I covered everything here. I know that these are a lot of guidelines, but many commentators think that they can offend others whether bloggers and/or other commentators and get away with it, and I thought that something needed to be mentioned in this regard.

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