Mass Ramadan Greetings

Greetings everyone,

This is my first post, so I'll make it short and sweet.

So Ramadan is finally upon us. It's a great time for spiritual rejuvenation and atonement. I love the family atmosphere that overcomes the community; people smiling at each other when they cross paths, saying salams to strangers--it's great.

But Ramadan is also a time for mass text messages, which are not so great. At the beginning of every Ramadan and every Eid, I get at least 10-20 new text messages on my phone. They're all mass text messages, all forwarded, and almost all identical. Now, don't get me wrong, I appreciate people wishing me Ramadan mubarak and I appreciate the dua'as from everyone who offers them, but a mass text message is so impersonal, and it usually drones on and on--which can become annoying after the 10th identical message.

Moral of the story: pick up the phone and call your brother or sister!

Life in the great North

Having lived north of the border for the past 3 1/2 years, I've had quite an experience living as an American in the land of Canucks. My first year especially. Whenever I would meet new people and extended in laws, upon hearing that I was an American, all the "uncles" would let loose and vent all their frustrations against the Bush Administration to me. They thought that since I was an American, I would somehow be able to convey all their personal complaints to Dubya himself. Hello people...just because I'm an American doesn't mean I agree with everything, let alone have connections to Dubya.

What's up with that?