From the beginning of Ramadan right on up to the last day of school in Ramadan, there was a strong rumor circulating in SMS messages. The rumor was that a decision had been made to move the vacation one week earlier than the announced date.
Ramadan is now history and nothing happened. The only beneficiary of the rumor was the Saudi Telecom Company (STC) which relayed the thousands of messages.
I have nothing to say about the phone company’s profits but I have much to say about a rumor that surfaces every single year.
When it comes to anything that affects our schools, our students are affected and distracted from their work. I am very surprised by this rumor which circulates every year and even more surprised that some students plan holidays and trips based on nothing more substantial than rumors. The rumors reflect the wishes of students who are even more bored than usual by classes in Ramadan.
Isn’t it about time we banished these rumors? The school calendar is not made randomly or yearly. It is made based on a five-year plan. Employees were all hoping that the rumors were true and made plans for an earlier than expected holidays. I do not know why such things happen since we have heard the rumors every year and never have they been correct — not even once.
The willingness to believe rumor is an indication that our students and most employees as well are bored with school and work. One thing for sure is that the majority believed the rumor. It is natural that we look for good news, even if we have to start a rumor that no one will believe it.
We are a society which loves to believe such rumors and the best way of illustrating this is to note a simple fact. The SMS message which was recently circulated that the vacation had been extended to include Tuesday and Wednesday resulted in many employees being absent from work, not because they believed the rumor but simply because they needed more time to sleep.
