Caught my friend at work today drinking this... I wonder what the short term effects of this could be, I think it might as well be banned at work for productivity related reasons

Few moths ago I was with a friend in Mecca mall, and you know how hard it is sometime to find a certain store, especially after the extension, I imagine it can really work for one of those cut-throat challenges on Survivor or something…

So we were standing in the middle of the mall trying to decide which way to go to reach a certain store, I guess it was Accessorize, you know that place that looks all colorful and sparkly yet when you get in, even if to buy some cheesy gift for a little girl most of the things are grossly overpriced so you end up buying nothing? Anyway…

We were discussing which way to go, finally agreed on how to go about it, checked out some stores finally sat to have some lunch. So as we were having lunch (more of a supper), or maybe just before that I can't really remember but it's really irrelevant, my friend said out of nowhere:

"It's wired how some guys put themselves in awkward situtations"

I was curious why she was saying that so I asked her what's the occasion for this, so she said:

"That guy that came up to you while we were deciding on which way to go"

I was like, "what guy?"

So she said, "That guy, he stopped in front of you and asked you "where do you want to go?" and you completely ignored him so he went on his way! I was surprised actually at how spontaneously you handled the situation"

Well that's because I didn't even see or hear the guy! I couldn't remember any of that, as if there was a mist screen that made me not see him or as if that moment was blocked out so it didn't register to my conscious mind!

I wondered that maybe he was someone I know and he was trying to say hi in a rather unusual way, I don't know but I hope not because it might've made me look really bad!

I'm still curious… who on earth was that person, why didn't I see him and most importantly, was that the only time something like this happened?

If only there was a way to know!

Although he had lung cancer, his death came as a surprise to everybody. Few months ago they said the cancer has taken a tight grip over his lungs and he was a goner. A while after that the good news came that he was doing amazingly well, he even went on a few months later to open a new Medical complex, after all he was a doctor and his job was to save lives. Everything seemed to be working out well, until a patient came in and sneezed.

It didn't take the H1N1 much time to claim his life. His immune system was fried with all the chemo, and within few days his family received a phone call just before dawn, telling them that their beloved father and husband has passed away.

He was a good man, and he had such a great family that we all loved, so it was only natural that people would pour in to pay their condolences. As soon as we saw the mother and the children we hugged them and cried with them, despite the warnings of not making too much contact out of fear that the swine flu might still be hovering over his loved ones.

His wife spoke about how he used to spend Ramadan nights praying and reading Qur'an, how he used to do the prayers even when he was in the ICU, and how sometimes he couldn't finish because he'd passed out. She'd alternate between crying out of sorrow and smiling at the good memories she had of him.

Just before we left the wake a certain piece of news spread like wildfire. His daughter also had, or maybe still has the swine flu. Well, what can you do other that hope that you didn't catch any of it…

As we left the wake we began exchanging stories about the people who attended. Some people had anti-bacterials that they used all the time. Someone came in with a mask dangling on his chest, which he clearly got rid of when he saw that no one else is using one. Someone arrived at the house but decided that he's not getting in and took of.

So at last we all concluded that we might have been exposed to H1N1, but what can you do? You just pray that it doesn't hit you, but even if it did, it might not be the worst thing in the world. According to my uncle's wife, people who get the swine flu this year should consider themselves lucky, for the virus is relatively mild now, while next year it could be more developed and more powerful.

The bottom line is that  it's just another flu, you just need to take the right antibiotic for it, which is the Tamiflu. If you get the symptoms, don't just take any kind of antibiotic because antibiotics could be dangerous if taken wrong. So there's really no reason to panic, they even are not keeping people at hospitals anymore, if you go to a hospital complaining about swine flu symptoms they just give you the Tamiflu and tell you to stay home for a week.

On the bright side, I woke up this morning to find that my mother had prepared two jugs of fresh citrus juice. Well, we can use some vitamin C you know!

May Allah rest the doctor's soul in peace, and give us whatever is better to have, flu or no flu!