Friday, July 03, 2009

Today in The Sandbox...

A perfect 108° and most excellent "working" weather. Perhaps I can finish Vengeance, today. There are sooo many books on my shelves that I need to read and summer, here, in The Sandbox, is the ideal time in which to do just that. [No. I am still not finished with Atlas Shrugged; I'll get back to it, though, another time.] Next up to read will either be The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt or The Slave Trade. How do I decide what I am going to read next? I have to choose from the paperback books that I have. They seem to survive the occasional swim fall and total saturation in the pool far better than the hardbacks do.

Anyway, today in the news... Not a whole lot, really. But then, it is the weekend.

This just irks me. An Egyptian tailor has been sentenced to 60 "almost forceful" lashes for "touching a female while taking her measurements." [So, then, with most lashings, are they just light taps? You know, as opposed to "almost forceful?" What does that even mean??!] Someone explain to me how it would even be possible for a tailor to get measurements without touching someone! I'd venture to say that it is highly unlikely that the Egyptian tailor [it is, as you know, very, very necessary to identify the man by nationality] was groping the woman. He was simply holding his measuring tape close to her body so that he could get accurate measurements and in order to do so he touched the woman. Good grief. Get a grip! And if you don't want to be touched by a man - an Egyptian tailor - then find a woman tailor. What did you expect when you went to the tailor? That he was going to guess your measurements? It is a lose-lose situation for the poor tailor. If he touches someone then he has done something very, very bad and he will be punished. If, on the other hand, he didn't use his measuring tape to get accurate measurements and he just guessed, then he would be guilty of doing something wrong by making an ill-fitting garment and he will probably be punished for that, too. The sentence imposed on the tailor included having him "undertake an oath not to repeat his actions." [Come on, now. Do you honestly think that after he receives his "almost forceful" 60 lashes he will even ever touch another woman, again?!? Yeah. Right.] A "similar declaration from the guardian of the girl" was also required and he [guardians are always males] must "play a greater role in her protection and address the lack of attention that permitted her to go to male tailors." Well. Okey-dokey, then. That matter is resolved.

...yeah. I guess there is more to the news, today, than just the Egyptian tailor. Not a whole lot that caught my attention in the Arab News, but this article on "Coping with culture shock," on how some Saudi students are behaving in other countries is worth reading. A couple of the articles in the Local Press section might be of interest [certainly a couple of them need my commentary - but I need to "work" today, instead]. In the Saudi Gazette there is an article on how a study is needed to "tackle divorce" that says, "Certain issues are deserving of study such as the high divorce rate, the trend towards marrying foreigners, the lack of enthusiasm for employment in the private sector and professional trades." What one has to do with the other, though - divorce and lack of enthusiasm for employment - I have no idea. The Nation section is worth a quick click to see what else is going on in this part of the world.

I am going to go get my "pool uniform" on, grab a Diet Coke and my book. It is just too nice outside today to not work. And, like I said, it is the weekend, here. Friday in The Sandbox is the equivalent to what Sunday in the States is. Nothing I would want to do more, in the States, than to relax in my pool on a Sunday, if I had one... And, if I don't get going, I am going to miss prime sun time [10A to 2P]!

2 comments:

  1. Culture shock? Tabuk is not a large city. Yet, when I go into town, it as if we are traveling through a NORAD complex. Satelite dishes are everywhere and in multiple numbers. Some houses have 2 or 3 of them. Reading that article, one can only assume these 'poor' students have not had ANY access to satelite TV or Internet. What a shame for them. Such access would greatly reduce culture shock, I would think. *sarcasm off*

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  2. Western women don't wear veil so we are gagging for it, aren't we? And if anything should happen, daddy will send money for a good lawyer.

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