Dr. Ahlam Muhammad Alaqi

Okaz

 

When we were children, we used to go weddings that would last until seven in the morning the next day.



I remember that most men would come and pick up their wives at the wedding hall in the morning while on their way to work.



An invitation to go to a wedding meant a big gathering of women and long phone calls among women discussing what to wear at the party.



As a child, I hated all of this. I hated attending these parties which lasted all night. The real torture for me was at the beauty salon where I had to stand and wait my turn for hours, while tolerating the smell of dye and hair spray.



Another thing I did not like about weddings was the singers. I never liked them because they were loud and had terrible voices that really got on my nerves.



I grew up hating wedding parties because of these painful experiences. I recently received an invitation to a wedding. Since I had not been to one for a long time, I assumed that most of the uncivilized practices had died out.



After all, we do live in the era of technology where people use social media websites like Instagram and where media has played a role in focusing on the negative practices within society.    



However, after attending the wedding, I began to think that globalization has not reached us and that most people have not even heard of it. Everything was the same as it had been in the past.



From the moment I set foot in the hall, women began to push and shove one another to be the first to hang up their abayas.



When the time for dinner was announced, a sea of women began heading together toward the buffet hall. This brought back painful flashbacks.



When I was a little girl, I attended a wedding and stood near the buffet hall door. Dinner was announced and all of sudden a large number of women started heading for the door where I was standing.



I would have been injured had it not been for a woman who snatched me from the crowd. Unfortunately, nothing has changed since then.



Chaos and unselfishness still prevail at most weddings. I have seen women taking more food than they could possibly eat and then leaving the rest on the table.



Some women are known to take silver porcelain plates home with them. I have seen this happen at lavish weddings. That is why, my friends, I hate attending weddings! Period.