A day in the Life - woman gone wild
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Women gone wild By Eman Goma "Oh my God it's going down, it looks like it's another black day for us," a woman yelled as I entered the room. Quickly I glanced at the ceiling, taking a moment to realise the woman meant her stock and not the sky above us. I'm at the Kuwait Stock Exchange, not the most happiest of places in the country at the moment. My editor thought it would be a good idea to do a story on women investors and how they are handling the tumbling market. I've got news for her - its not looking good. I entered the KSE building in downtown Kuwait City and headed to the women's trading room on the second floor. I was greeted by an official and successfully got the permission to do my interviews. That was the first and perhaps the only accomplishment of my day. When I entered, dozens of anxious eyes turned toward me. Women old and young, dressed in jeans, abayas and elegant business suites stared at me like I personally had driven their stocks down just by walking into the room. Under the glare of their hostile eyes, I started to melt. I wanted to leave but I couldn't. My editor could be just as mean as any of these stock-chasing gentlewomen. Most sat anxious and mesmerised in front of fluorescent computer screens monitoring the market's activity. Others were trading at the brokers' desks located in the room. Filled with optimism, I approached one of these women, introduced myself and asked if I could take 10 minutes of her time. She rejected me at once, "No, no, I don't have time for these things," she exclaimed and turned back to the flashing screen. OK. Maybe she's having a bad day, I told myself. Moving on to the lady sitting next to her, I asked and received the same harsh response. Then I realised that most of the 20 women in the room were looking my way. The office suddenly felt very small and all the women could hear what I had been asking. For a minute no one spoke, all of them just stared at me with hostile looks. In order to let things cool down, I found myself an empty spot, and decided to sit for a while and just observe the situation. I looked around for another person that I could talk to, however, it was hard to figure out how each of these women would react. I didn't want to get screamed at again. But, I didn't give up. Finally, I saw an abaya-clad lady was done and getting ready to leave. I approached her and before I could even say a word, she stopped. Looking me up and down, she asked coldly, "Are you another journalist looking for a story?" Too late, I nodded yes. "It's all because of you journalists that the market is falling now," she screamed. Then another 'lady' joined in: "Don't even bother talking to her." I realised that the women's attention in the room shifted from the screens to me once again. Suddenly, I was surrounded. Half a dozen Kuwaiti women angry at their stock market losses were about to take their anger out on me. Fearing that I was about to be pummelled, I started edging towards the exit. "Please God, I thought, let me make it out of here in one piece." I tried to calm them down. "I'm not here to discuss the market's fall. I just wanted to interview a couple of you'll for an article about female investors at the KSE, and how you could be setting an example for prospective investors." The pack of fuming women weren't fooled. Smelling my fear, they started closing in. That's when I decided, enough. My editor would just have to understand. Life isn't worth trading for a story. As I reached the car park, I pulled out my cell phone and dialled my mom. You can't imagine how great it is to hear your mother's voice. "I almost died!" I shouted. My mom replied, "Honey, you need to quit that job."  
|
||
3/30/2006 2:32 am |
| ||
3/30/2006 3:12 am |
yep... there's so many ways to skin a cat ... and so there's lots of ways to make a story without rousing anyone's ire. stay safe sis. The world is a classroom 4 learning Not a courtroom 4 judging 
| ||
3/31/2006 3:49 am |
yep... there's so many ways to skin a cat ... and so there's lots of ways to make a story without rousing anyone's ire. stay safe sis. 
| ||
3/31/2006 9:17 am |
I agree with you Miss chinatree! 
|
 |
 |
 |
| Become a member to comment on this blog | ||
 |
|
