A Stranger Is A Friend You Don't Know Yet

"A stranger is a friend you don't know yet" is what i heard man telling others  last night on the Bus from Aeroplane to terminal in Khartoum airport. I heard this proverb before but this time it was in the right context. 

It was my first time to fly Ethiopian airlines, actually the first time to fly other than GCC or european airlines in loong time,  and towards the end of the journey i was wondering how nice the trip was. Airline service and airplanes were OK, a little bit old but the friendly crew make up for all that. 

So what was the surprising discovery? It is the people and their attitude, it is the first time that i actually enggae in nice discussions and look forward to follow-up communication with other passengers in long time.

I did many flights over the past two years, but i noticed that on my favourite ailrine everything is state of the art and new, the service is more than OK. However, I don't recall having much conversations with passsenger next to me. a couple of times this happened, and one ofthem was actually a friend of my cousin. 

I was wondering about this, and then i remembered how many people on the plane were talking to each other, although i don't know the language i can tell that although they don't know eahc oher, they still communicate freely. 

So i came up with this idea that i simply liked the passenger community. it could be part of the culture, since majority of passengers from same country and they are simple and friendly themselves. other ailrines have passengers form differnet cultures; so almost all of them are dealing with others as strangers and not apply the concept of "friend you don't knwo yet." 

It is the simple reaction to strangers by preserving your space and keeping distance; people simply focus and think about reaching their destination and not on the journey itself. I can also blame this on the state of the art technology which allowed each one to have his/her own entertainment system. It simply had the same effect of TV on family and friends communication. 

I have to be rational and give passengers the benefit of doubt, so on my next flight i will test my theory and try to be nice with the passenger next to me and will tell you how things will go. so in case i forgot, remind me if you ever hear that  i took a flight.

In summary, I always enjoy meeting new people and having conversation with them, and maybe that is what i liked about this trip. However, maybe i was just blessed to have good comapny on the seats next to me throughout the journey, and for that i am thankful. 

 

On Cars and Friendship !

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The blog below was recorded, yes recorded, back in april on my mobile phone as i drove the car out of Dubai ariport heading to alain. I totally forgot about it until i visited alain again last week.

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Suddenly i feel this car is very big, it's a mitsubishi lancer. the funny thing is that in my previous job i drove many cars, Big and Small, and lancer was the smallest car i ever drove. well, there was that hatchback Skoda once, but generally lancer was the one that felt the smallest.

So why does it feel so big now? well, compared to my Polo, which is a very nice and lovely car but a little bit smaller, Compared to Polo lancer seemed so spacious and big.


So i think in life it is all about your perception, you get attached to something or get used to someone and you think this is it; it cannot be anything better or bigger than that. Then after sometime you meet new people, you get new things, drive new car and you discover, well,there are bigger and better things out there .


So, the same thing goes for relationships, I recall some friends telling me that in any relationship, as the time goes by, you find another person and no matter what or how much you feel right now you will appreciate the new person or thing more


well, for the time being i will just enjoy whatever I have now and whatever i am feeling. And who knows maybe this is the car or friend i always wanted, or maybe it is just a good car or friend .


anyways, you never know. in all cases i believe that the key is to be satisfied how Allah leads you and be sure Allah will provide the best for me to enjoy in the future.

Forever and timely communication

Last week while visiting home in Alain i was looking into one of the boxes and was surprised for the memories and wisdom that came out of that box.

In life we meet many people, and the impact they have on us is totally irrelevant to the duration that we know them or be in direct contact with them. I can telll many stories of people i met for short period in my life and had a great impact on me, at least on the short term. My favourite story is always about the old lady from prinston whom i met on the ferry between london and paris, but i will leave this story for later.

The story today will be about a friend whom i knew for few months if not weeks, surprisingly 10 years ago. Very nice person with a nice smile and the everlasting memory is the lessons i learnt that i will share with you.

How long is forever?
One day i was told by my friend that "I will remember this forever." Guess how long was forever?  few months, only few months. My friend passed away in tragic circumstances after getting married at home country few months later, definitely less than 10 months. So, whenever I remember this friend i remember how short our life is, and also how important it is not to waste time when it comes to the things that really matter and the ones we care for.

How important is Timely communication?
When i opened the box yesterday i found many letters, internet was not much popular back then you know. The ones the really makes me uncomfortable are the ones i wrote but never sent. Ofcoarse we had telephone conversations and all issues were cleared, however, I kept on delaying sending them until there was no one o send them to. In addition to other incidents, this was the most influecing event in making me strive to communicate openly and promptly with people I care for. This made me appreciate the importance of timely communication befroe time is over.

So these are the lessons i can think of and i am thankful for the short period i knew that friend, and the great and continuous impact this and other friendships have on my life.