JOIN USA renowned community club in Bahrain was hosting its annual picnic. All of us were very excited about the D-day. The previous evening, I rushed to the mall to ensure that I had a pair of informal clothes for the occasion. On the day, we boarded the bus around 9 am. The venue was a sort of mini-resort with swimming pool, a hall and space for outdoor games.
The picnic kick-started with breakfast. After relishing the sumptuous breakfast, my hands rushed to my wallet only to realise that I had forgotten my lunch coupon at home! I immediately approached an office bearer of the club and explained my predicament. I requested him to check my name in the list of people who have paid for lunch. “No worries, we will look into it,” he assured me. I heaved a sigh of relief.
After playing some outdoor games, came the time for lunch. While we stood in the queue, the office bearer to whom I had previously spoken to about my concern, arranged for an alternative coupon. However, my sense of relief was very short-lived.
No sooner did I submit my coupon at the counter, was it snatched by a ‘gentleman’ who happened to be the president of the club. “This is an outdated coupon. You have to wait,” he said. “The coupon was given to me by one ‘X’ office bearer,” I retorted, even as my wife vanished from the queue on hearing this. “Call him here,” the president yelled. The office bearer intervened to convince the man, but in vain. The other members at the counter were willing to serve us but by then he had created a scene!
I went home and sent him a friend request on Facebook. He did accept it but posted on my timeline saying, “Is it not better to talk to a person before sending a friend request?” On reading this unusual post, I replied, “I always humbly greeted you whenever I met you. However, adding me as your friend is your choice!”
His comments had added salt to my injury. I immediately scanned the family-coupon I had purchased for the picnic and messaged it to him on Facebook with the comment, “The other day both of us felt embarrassed when you denied us the plate…” He quickly replied “It was your fault and you must accept it!”
“To err is human, to forgive divine. I wish you could have been more considerate,” I replied. Without any sense of remorse, he justified the rules of the club and texted me a discourse about the importance of following the rules!
By now, it was evident to me that it only takes a fool to argue with such a fool. The best thing I could do was thanking Facebook for giving me the option to ‘unfriend’ someone with such despicable attitude and removing him from the list! I then posted on my timeline, “Rules are important, but humanity is more important!”