Il-tawmeen
I’ve been fasting since Saturday, I think. I don’t usually wake up for suhour I just feel too tired to wake up. The thing is I don’t feel hungry but I feel so very thirsty during the day. So yesterday was really tough on me. I’m not repeating it today so I made myself some eggs. I didn’t want to wake up the poor housemaids, what they go through everyday is enough.
Anyways, the day before yesterday I wanted to get some things from il-tawmeen. It was so crowded so I was told to leave my dad’s civil ID with them and come back the next morning. I did. Got up early the next morning. I got there at 8:15am, not bad for someone who’s on vacation. It was crazy crowded. Most people have sent their drivers to pick up their tawmeen but there were some really old men. There were a few old women, 5 including me. People were already angry. Some were waiting as early as 6-7am and haven’t received anything!
I was told that my dad’s civiI ID was lost. I tried to stay calm as much as possible. I couldn’t help it. It was so disorganized to the point of chaos that some people were swearing at eachother and at the workers too. I got pissed too but didn’t say a word. One guy threatened to come back Thursday and kick their butts.
I asked “wain shibaak ilhareem?” (Translate: where’s the ladies’ ticket booth?) I was given a blank look. Then the worker told me “mo taboon ilmosawat!!” (Translate: “you want to be equal with men!”) WTF!! Shako? I tried to stay calm but I couldn’t stop myself from laughing at him.
What really annoyed me was how they treated the elderly!! I’m speechless. One old man was sitting on the bench. He took out a piece of mint, kept on sniffing at it like it was the last thing he’ll ever smell. I felt sorry for him, as well as the other old men standing in the heat, sweating like crazy. Nothing was being done to speed up their orders. This is how the elderly are treated here. Shame on them! Shame on us! I couldn’t take it anymore. It could have been my mom or dad standing there and it disgusted me to the point I wanted to leave. Then they found my dad’s civil ID, called my turn and I got my tawmeen finally at 9:45am. I was just happy
Why can’t they have il-tawmeen 24/h? Or at least pay workers overtime for this month and the next!
And btw, when you go pick up your tawmeen you’ll receive a gift consisting of three boxes of pasta, yareesh, harees and 6-8 bags of flour. Good luck, I hope other areas are more civilized and respectful with the elderly!
This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 at 3:22 am and is filed under Life is so short. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
August 26th, 2008 at 7:09 am
Pearls, I am so sorry but I don’t understand Tawmeen. Is this something for Ramadan? Is this something you have to do for some bureaucracy? Is the pasta, yareesh and harees given to all Kuwait citizens as a kind of Ramadan ration?
August 26th, 2008 at 8:08 am
tawmeen tawmeen i kept reading it over and over i thought there were something wrong with the word i started saying it outloud and repeating it finally i figured whts wrong with it!! TAMWEEENNNNNN DEE DAMWEEN !! hehehe
as for ur s7oor .. a s7oor full of protien especially eggs etc is ought to make u thirsty .. try complex carbohydrates like whole oats or brown rice instead u can add a little something with th rice.. wake up el khadam for wht??
we need more pix of 7assoony on facebook plz ;P
August 26th, 2008 at 8:10 am
i have a question since i havent heard the word tamween since my mama haya passed away .. allah yer7amha .. what do they have ?
August 26th, 2008 at 9:25 am
Jumana, I knew I had the word mispelled bas I didn’t know what was wrong with it lol. Thanks. Allah yerhamha. I’ll explain to you what they sell.
intlx & Jumana, It’s like a discount food store and only Kuwaiti members are allowed to buy them. you get your food for about half price what it sells in co-ops. You’re allowed harees, yareesh, flour, rice, sugar, milk, baby milk, lentil and I don’t know what else. Essential items which you need to buy on a monthly basis. They calculate how many members in the family and given food accordingly. Say if we’re a family of 5, we’re allowed 6-8 bags of flour only. If we were a bigger family we get more. They don’t sell all brands, only specific brands. So mako variety
August 26th, 2008 at 9:33 am
and another thing some people buy their share of tamween esp if they don’t need them for the month and sell them to their friends for the same discounted price. I’m not a member but dad is.
August 26th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
oooh my God that is soo sad!! they sell baby formula for half the price?!?!?!?! european countries and countries all over the word are increasing the taxes on baby milks to encourage breastfeeding and we r selling it for HALF THE PRICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how outrageous!!
August 26th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Its a good idea, but the organization is horrible. Its great that you are patient but sometimes you just have to blow up in their faces to do something about it. I can’t help but angry when they are that disorganized and a Civil ID is an extremely important thing I would never leave it with them, when I read that you did that I hoped that they didn’t lose it which they did!
August 26th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
I can’t believe they’ve let the elderly wait with all the others. They always have a priority!
August 26th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Thank you, Pearls. Imagine, I have lived in Kuwait almost three years and I had never heard of it before. Thanks to you, I’ve learned something I didn’t even know I didn’t know!
August 26th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Jumana I believe all formula should be given free of charge to every baby, Kuwaiti or not, I think European countries offer them free of charge.
Sometimes substituting with formula is just not an option for some parents. Though I agree they shoudn’t encourage bottle feeding either bas shensawy
Marzouq, lol. Now you tell me. I learned the hard way
Bigpearls, I couldn’t believe it myself, it’s really sad
Intlxpatr, you welcome.
August 31st, 2008 at 1:18 pm
KEL 3AM O ENTE BKHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIR :*