I recall hearing that at the start of Ramadaan this year, a Cisco Executive sent an email memo to the employees to inform them that Ramadan, a holy month for Muslims which includes daily fasting, had begun. I hear that it politely requested employees to be considerate of their fasting Muslim coworkers by not scheduling meetings late in the afternoon (to interfere with fast-breaking) or avoid having food in meetings. I think things like this are "nice" if only to increase awareness that it is Ramadaan, but I don't see that much special care is needed. Maybe the late-day meetings.
The memo apparently was very poorly received by some non-Muslim employees, who thought it unfair that some of their holidays did not bear such recognition, and who in some way or another felt slighted by the respect being shown to Muslims. In all honesty, I think that's pretty silly and immature.
I work for a large State-wide agency (local state government, not federal) that does not officially recognize holidays at all. No memos went out... and the Muslims, they seem to be undercover. I get along fine though, without any kind of official recognition. But this morning I did have a meeting with my Section and one of the supervisors bought some Krispy Kreme doughnuts... ok, now, I love Krispy Kreme, really I do. Nobody made me eat them. Nobody even asked me (perhaps because I'm the girl they think I don't eat doughnuts?) if I wanted one. Plus it was about 8:30 am and I'm too tired (physically) to really be hungry, it's early in the day. So alhamdulillah, resisting was not a problem, and it didn't distract me from the meeting.
I would have liked for someone to ask though--just so I could say, actually I'm fasting today because it's Ramadan!
Tomorrow, though... well I'm not sure what to do. I normally come in to work in the afternoon, but it's Employee Appreciation Day... so I'm not allowed to say what happens, but there is a luncheon involved, which pretty much everyone attends (though I never have actually) and then the rest of the afternoon... so anyway. Tomorrow (Friday) could either be the 30th of Ramadan, in which case I would be fasting and a luncheon wouldn't make much sense. Or else, tomorrow could be the 1st of Shawwal in which case it would be Eid (which is only one day--you know who you are, ahem!) and there is no way I would go spend Eid at an employee luncheon at the park. Soooooooooo........... doesn't look like I'll be working tomorrow, except maybe a few hours before jummah assuming it's still Ramadan... the real question, then, is how much can I charge?
The memo apparently was very poorly received by some non-Muslim employees, who thought it unfair that some of their holidays did not bear such recognition, and who in some way or another felt slighted by the respect being shown to Muslims. In all honesty, I think that's pretty silly and immature.
I work for a large State-wide agency (local state government, not federal) that does not officially recognize holidays at all. No memos went out... and the Muslims, they seem to be undercover. I get along fine though, without any kind of official recognition. But this morning I did have a meeting with my Section and one of the supervisors bought some Krispy Kreme doughnuts... ok, now, I love Krispy Kreme, really I do. Nobody made me eat them. Nobody even asked me (perhaps because I'm the girl they think I don't eat doughnuts?) if I wanted one. Plus it was about 8:30 am and I'm too tired (physically) to really be hungry, it's early in the day. So alhamdulillah, resisting was not a problem, and it didn't distract me from the meeting.
I would have liked for someone to ask though--just so I could say, actually I'm fasting today because it's Ramadan!
Tomorrow, though... well I'm not sure what to do. I normally come in to work in the afternoon, but it's Employee Appreciation Day... so I'm not allowed to say what happens, but there is a luncheon involved, which pretty much everyone attends (though I never have actually) and then the rest of the afternoon... so anyway. Tomorrow (Friday) could either be the 30th of Ramadan, in which case I would be fasting and a luncheon wouldn't make much sense. Or else, tomorrow could be the 1st of Shawwal in which case it would be Eid (which is only one day--you know who you are, ahem!) and there is no way I would go spend Eid at an employee luncheon at the park. Soooooooooo........... doesn't look like I'll be working tomorrow, except maybe a few hours before jummah assuming it's still Ramadan... the real question, then, is how much can I charge?
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11 comments:
AA- Amy,
Not sure if anyone cares, but Krispy Kreme is opening up in Riyadh in 2 weeks. Yeehaw! Good times are here!
And Eid is three days, thank you very much. At least that's how its celebrated here in Saudi. :-P
I do know that in Pakistan they call this Eid the small Eid and they call Eid-Udha the big Eid. And that's how I've always seen it practiced back in the US.
But not here in KSA. Not sure why...but you won't hear me complaining. :-)
WS,
I care.. I love Krispe Kreme. I even thought about going buy and getting a box or two to take to iftaar tonight... lol.. but I didn't.
I don't understand the 3-day Eid, let me put it that way. The way I understand it (and I can be corrected if I'm wrong here) is that the first day of Shawwal is Eid al-Fitr, and you can't fast on that day, and there is an Eid prayer in the morning and the whole day is a celebration.
But the 2nd day of Shawwal isn't Eid anymore, so you can fast. I've never heard anyone say that Eid actually lasts for 3 days, just that some people like to celebrate it for that long.
And here it seems like Eid al-Fitr is the "big Eid" and Eid al-Adha is the lesser one; but since I've practiced Islam I've been to two Salawat al-Eid al-Adha, and have yet to attend a Salat al-Eid al-Fitr,(car trouble..) but heard that there were a lot more people at the Eid I missed than there were at the two I attended, despite being in the same community, Eid al-Fitr being on a weekday and al-Adha being on a weekend. *shrug*
I'm ready for it to be over, honestly.
Salam sis
The first Krispy Kreme store in Sydney (Australia even I think) was opened in my town. People lined up for hours. I waited a week or so and then walked in and bought one in 5 minutes. It was quite nice I must say :)
Hubby hates donuts though. He can't seem to get over the idea that its deep fried lol
anyway, Eid Mubarak. I must say, I love the day of Eid. One of my first happy memories is of Eid.
Salam
p.s I am Houda :)
Wa alaikum as-salaam Houda -
I can't remember the last time a Krispy Kreme around here actually opened! LOL, they just seem to be shutting down, actually. There is one in the city where I live but on the other side; there was one that closed down years ago that was in a better location but... they closed down.
So it's rare I ever can get them fresh. I remember at the beginning of Ramadan going shopping at the grocery store, and they have the boxes of a dozen that you can buy though they aren't fresh, and I bought a box. My roommate bought a thing of the donut holes.
And last Eid they had a whole bunch of fresh ones that they were giving out after the prayer.
So we see Krispy Kreme a lot around here even though the "store" isn't very convenient. They offer fundraisers that groups on campus (at college) try and use so you see fresh donuts for sale in the morning pretty often too. I think it's a company that was founded in NC... and there is no way they are healthy, I mean stay away FAR AWAY, they're deep fried and bathed in sugar solution.. but oh, they just melt in your mouth! lol
Oh btw sis,
Thanks for posting! Nice to meet you. :-) Eid Mubarak to you too.
As-Salaamu 'alaikum,
I've never had Krispy Kreme, even though they seem to have mushroomed around here in the last few years. They opened up a KK drive-thru (first in Britain or perhaps even in Europe) at a place called Shannon Corner, which is right near where I live in New Malden (in south-west London), and they have them in the shopping centre in Kingston and in several big train stations. They definitely aren't closing down here.
PS. Eid Mubarak
Hey Amy..
Eid Mubarek!
lol..this blog made me hungry..
I've never had krispy kreme, only Dunkin Donuts and they are usually stale. Well, at least from where i usually got them..
I saw some show on the t.v. food network a while back on donuts and they showed how krispy kreme makes their donuts..they mix them, fry them, and box them immediatly. So, when you open up the box it's like straight outta the bakery. They said that, along with the taste, is what sets their donuts apart. I didn't even know they sold them in the grocery store until that show. I always thought you had to go to krispy kreme.
I dunno, I'd rather try the ones from krispy kreme then the boxed ones...
first.. i gotta find a krispy kreme in NJ.. I haven't seen one yet...
Fatima
Wa alaikum as-salaam Yusuf, and Eid Mubarak to you too.
Glad to see KK is alive and well over there.
Eid Mubarak Fatima!
I went to NYC a few months ago and found they had a Krispy Kreme sore under Madison Square Garden (where they were of course selling fresh donuts.) I got one then and it was really good. Eating KK in NYC, lol.
They're definitely much better fresh than in the box--their age measured in minutes or hours rather than days.
KK has this thing where they have a 'HOT' sign out front indicating when they have hot/fresh donuts available, and those are the ones that really melt in your mouth. If it's not fresh... eh... it's not worth t.
Here we don't have so many KK stores actually because I guess there's not a place where one would get enough traffic to make it worthwhile. However, you can buy them at many grocery stores "fresh" and some gas stations. They bring them "fresh" every morning, so you can't quite get them hot but it's better than the wrapped up box of a dozen you could buy.
Oh this is funny, since everyone is commenting about Krispy Kreme, I thought I'd add...
The Krispy Kreme store in Raleigh is 2 miles I think from the college campus (NCSU). Every year they have what they call the "Krispy Kreme challenge." It's kind of like a fundraiser/run. But it works like this:
You run 2 miles from school to KK store. Eat 1 dozen hot donuts. Run back 2 miles! Winner is the first one back. Don't believe me? http://www.saketvora.com/kkc/index.php?page_id=3
A lot of people sign up in groups and don't really "run" the whole way, and they split the dozen, but in order to win you have to eat all dozen donuts. No, I've never done it. But the people who have say thing like they can feel the sugar oozing through their pores as they run back... lol... gross... only in America, right?
lol!
imagine putting together a healthy activity like running and then getting people to eat a not so healthy food like donuts!
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