Jasser wants to know if Bernard Shaw was right when he said there are only two ways to get rich — marry a rich woman or work hard for 20 years and then marry a rich woman. There is no third option. Jasser wrote that he has a similar problem to the one Shaw wrote about. He has been working hard for 16 years and has finally met a very rich woman who wants to marry him and turn her fortune over to him. He likes the idea but is upset because it will mean abandoning his child and his present wife whom he married when they were both in their teens.
He does not want to give up his wife but he is impatient to be rich. They have been struggling together for the past 16 years. It was she who persuaded him to travel to the Gulf country where he presently works. He worked hard, almost round the clock — an accountant in two companies and a translator in a third. He never went on vacation during the first seven years and his only aim was to get rich. It was the shared dream of him and his wife to start a profitable business venture in their hometown when he returned home.
In fact, he saved up a fair amount of money during the years he worked. With the money, Jasser finally went home. His wife was very happy. For months they looked for a profitable investment opportunity. Finally, he invested all his money in a poultry farm. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a bad choice as he had no experience and so he lost all his money.
Once again, he went back to the Gulf in search of more money. It was not difficult to find a good job as he was both experienced and hard working. This time he got a job in the real estate field. After eight years of hard work, he was an expert in the field. The nature of his work required him to deal with wealthy people and in the course of it, he met with a widow with plenty of money. His work impressed her very much. She found him trustworthy and one thing led to another and she finally expressed a desire to marry him.
Now he is confused. Marrying her would make him immensely rich, and so fulfill his life’s ambition. At the same time, marriage meant he would have to give up his wife and child. Now he wants my advice.
I have no advice to offer as the choice is a difficult one. He is on the threshold of fulfilling his ambition. He can have only one — either a poor loving wife or a life of ease with a rich one.
***
Intelligent kitchens of the future will be much more than today’s kitchens. They will give lessons on cooking and fuss about your health, keeping an eye on those who overeat. The inbuilt online connection can warn a supermarket if certain items are needed.
The engineers in a Japanese company have already designed a kitchen in such a way that all the members of the family can eat together at the dining table, a custom seldom seen these days. The kitchen would sense the body temperatures of each diner and point out what is wrong with his health. When your wife plans to prepare chocolate cake, the kitchen will protest, expressing its displeasure though it will of course obey and cooperate with her. It will instruct her on the correct quantity of each ingredient and how to prepare them. The kitchen will automatically start the stove, adjust the heat and finally stop when the cake is ready.
Though the smart kitchen will cooperate fully with your wife, it will continue sending messages of warning that she is risking the health of her loved ones by preparing the cake and so it should be served in small quantities. The kitchen will also keep telling her how to prepare healthy dishes, low in fat and sugar.
The intelligent kitchen will also recommend the right food for each member of the family, considering each one’s state of health. Through the intercom connected to the kitchen, family members in different rooms can order in advance what they want to eat. The kitchen will point out the health problems resulting from that particular dish on that day.
Let us hope that the smart kitchens, which are sure to appear, will not break up our families or spoil the pleasures of eating.
***
If you are in the habit of using your mouth more than your ears, you are never going to learn the merits of silence. Silence is a noble quality which protects you from base and vicious acts while your mouth commits them by the hundreds. The problem with the mouth is that it loves gossiping and overeating. Talkativeness is a hateful habit, particularly on occasions when one should be very sparing in the use of words. There is no wonder why the ancients praised silence. They said if speech is silver, silence is golden. Listening to people is a better way of gaining friends than by talking to them. Words can make many enemies. More words mean more mistakes. A wound from bitter words is more painful than a blow by any weapon. People also say that a talkative person is insane while a listener is intelligent.
Wise men of the past said that one learns by listening and not by speaking. A listener receives while a talker loses. According to an Arab saying, silence is the most eloquent speech. Caliph Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “Man is under his tongue, not under his clothes.”
Another Arab proverb says: “A dog draws harm upon itself.” By its continuous barking in the night, enemies can easily locate your tents and bring trouble to you.
German poet Goethe said: “Talking is easy while listening is difficult.”
If you ask me, my answer is what Taha Hussain, the great Egyptian writer from an earlier generation, used to say: “I am so so.”
Before readers direct their criticisms at me as usual, let me point out that our ears also have certain drawbacks though they are insignificant compared to those of the mouth.
Arab News Opinion 27 December 2002
