no mules are allowed

There is a saying in Turkish: "Don't speak like that. Or Allah may resent"

It means, you shouldn't complain about your situation or Allah may give you such a trouble that you will realize it wasn't that bad in the first place.

Perhaps, the phrase "Be careful what you wish" in English may be equivalent to the Turkish phrase regarding that they both refer to an unwanted outcome. However, they are not same in the sense that the Turkish phrase reflects a negative perspective and it sublty suggests that you should accept what you already have and not complain about your situation. It is quite obvious that the Turkish phrase comes from a cultural and social environment in which things are expected to become worse anytime. On the other hand, even though the English phrase warns about an unwanted outcome, too, it is actually about the unexpected consequenses rather than the situation itself, and it reflects a more progressive cultural and social perspective.

So in the late 90s, when i first bought my cell phone, i was always making this joke: "OK. Now i have the cell phone. So why don't the chicks call me," pretty much trying to say that a nerd is a nerd and just because he has a cool gadget does not make him a playboy (see exbit a: myself).

And now we are in 2010 and Allah might have actually resented me back then because i keep getting phone calls from ladies all the time. Yep, i do get them even at 3 am. Yet, i'm still not a playboy, and i am still the same nerd guy. So i am not dellusional. These ladies are not calling me because they think i am attractive. They don't call me because i am fun to chat with especially at 3 in the morning.  Nope.They are calling me because i am doing their job and they know that i won't go to bed until it is done so i am available at 3 in the morning. And i know that our relation is going to end in the second the project ends and we exchange the classical "thank you" and "see you next time" words.

I know some of these ladies for years. We do business together all the time. Yet, i haven't seen how some of them look like because we always talk on the phone and bounce the project forward and backward through email.

And sometimes i feel like i am a mule who is always overloaded but never complains. The merchant takes care of the mule as long as it carries the merchandise for him, but when they reach the destination, the merchant enjoys the profit he makes while the mule waits in the barn for the next cargo, which is probably the first thing in the morning. If the mule ever dares to bray to complain about the situation, it gets the stick, not the carrot.

OK, as a matter of fact, even though the workload might be at extreme levels sometimes, at least i am lucky enough to do a job that i like doing. And i really don't expect much from people, knowing that people forget you when they don't need you. And to be honest, this is what i am doing to other people as well. I talk to them as much as it is necessary for the project and stop communicating with them when the project is done. If we happen to work together again, we start from where we left.

But sometimes, seemingly small things may happen which destroy your entire mood at least for a couple of hours. That's what happened i saw the invitations to the premiere of a spesific turkish movie which our company have been working on for like 10 days. For most of the part, it was me who did the job and it was me who they communicated when they wanted something to be done. Then, my colleague took over the job and i started on another project.

And they didn't send me an invitation but to him? OK, don't get me wrong. I am not jealous, not at all. And i don't care about the event itself. Even if they send me an invitation, i will probably not be able to attend because i will be busy with carrying another cargo.

But, if they decide to show an act of courtesy, perhaps it would be nice to remember the guy who they didn't hesitate to call at 3 am. I feel bad because they treated me exactly how i feel: a mule who carries their cargo and put into the barn while they have a good time in the inn. You see, they don't allow the mules in the inn.

So, in order to prove myself that i am actually not a mule but still a human being, i tried to list down the differences between a human and a mule:

1.Mules have four legs but no arms. Humans have two legs and two arms.
2. Mules have a tail. Humans don't.
3. Mules have long ears. Humans don't unless they are not from Vulcan.
4. Mules can't blog.