SMS TEXTS GALORE
I'm in the state of bankruptcy.In terms of mobile phone credit.
It's this "please 4give me" thing, gnawing at my credit with every beep of SMS texts. It's this noble, humbling custom of welcoming the sacred month of Ramadan with the purity of hearts. Thus, you ask forgiveness from each other. Thus these SMS texts galore if you don't happen to live precisely side by side with all your friends. Thus this state of bankruptcy.
What is kindly meant is not always practical, or so it seems.
You have your mailbox full of texts that sound (sender, wording and font may vary):
"As divine as the purest soul.. As crystal clear as the deepest thoughts.. As shimmering as the will to do good.. With the approaching holy month of Ramadan let us be thoroughly cleansed of sins. Do accept my apologies for any inconvenience I have imposed on you. Intensify our worship acts in humble serenity and may God bestow the blessings of Ramadan upon us all."
Mind you, English will be the last language of choice. Indonesian is still the common lingua franca, though lately its position has been seriously undermined by the extensive use of Arabic language. The poetic attempt and the verbosity yet remain.
May God forgive my impertinence, but keeping such boring, clichéd texts to pile up in my mailbox doesn't seem very inviting. And there comes the obligation to send similar texts in return. It's an impoverishing, cliché-ridden triviality, and who'll wear the widest grin in the end? GSM provider companies only.
I mean, suppose it's been over a year since the last time you see a person, no calls or emails in between, and the two of you are not even in SMS-ing term. Why on earth do you send a "pls 4give me" SMS text to that particular person? What mischief have you probably done him/her? Or perhaps you understatedly apologise for failing to keep in touch over the year? Nonsensical. Yet ignoring him/her could be perceived as an effort to eradicate the very person from your friend-list. Another social casualty. No, you wouldn't like that. So you buy that nonsense for the price of (generally) Rp 350. The price of claiming friendship.
OK, I'm being cynical. Nothing's really wrong with SMS texts galore; they add a touch to the glorious season, and besides, I'm always in the constant state of mobile phone credit bankruptcy anyway. In the spirit of Ramadan, do accept my apologies for any inconvenience I might have imposed on you by writing this rubbish. Then let our soul be divine, our thoughts be crystal clear, our goodwill be shimmering, blah, blah, blah. :-D
posted by eloque @ 2:30 AM
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