Don't Freak Out!
For some reason everyone seems to be freaking out really easily. I'm not sure if it's just the Egyptians that I spend most of my time with or a general thing that spans all cultures but people always seem to think the worst is about to happen or has happened.
For example, let's say you can't find your wallet. What do most people think right away once they realize that it's gone? Someone stole my wallet! And it probably turns out that you just misplaced it. I know that I have never had my wallet stolen but I have misplaced it at least a dozen times. Why don't people just calm down, take a deep breath and gather their emotions and think logically.
At my church, I and a couple others set up a wireless access point. It has proven to be a bit problematic at times but for the most part it's been pretty reliable considering that number of people that it supports. It's not exactly enterprise level but it will do for what it's being asked to do. Lately there has been a couple of problems with it and everyone automatically assumes that since it's not working that someone hacked into it and changed the password. It seems that there are a few people at my church that have just enough knowledge about technology to be dangerous. They know just enough to be able to jump to outrageous conclusions and spread that fear amongst everyone around them. Why would anyone want to hack our wireless access point? Does anyone really care? If I were a hacker, I would target systems that were challenging and that had some bragging rights that came along with it. What kind of hacker would be proud of himself for hacking into a church's wireless network? I could see some kids trying to hack into the network but I'm not stupid enough to leave it totally vulnerable. It's protected well enough that the casual hacker will spend months trying to hack into the system and fail. A truly experienced hacker with the skill to break into the network won't give a flying crap about our network.
There is an Egyptian festival at my church this weekend that they stupidly call the King Tut Festival. King Tut is a pagan Pharaoh and have absolutely nothing to do with Christianity. The only reason why they call it the King Tut Festival is because they think that most non-Egyptians know absolutely nothing about Egypt other than King Tut and the pyramids. Some people are extremely ignorant. I remember when I was a kid and some of my friends would find out that I was Egyptian, they would ask if I lived in a pyramid and if my dad road a camel to work. Thank God, people today are slightly more culturally aware. But I digress......
So everyone is stressing out about the festival. They have done a lot more marketing and advertising for the festival than they normally do this year and I think they are expecting it to bring in a huge number of people. I don't think it will be that different that it is has been in years past. Normally, there would be a few non-Egyptians but for the most part the festival is for people from our church to come and spend their money. I am sure that the marketing and advertising will increase the number of non-Egyptians that come but it won't nearly make the difference that they are hoping for.
Since they think that thousands of people will show up instead of the 250-500 that I expect to see, they are hitting up everyone and their mother to volunteer. They have schedules at each booth and insist that everyone sign up. I know how Egyptians work and I know that you can schedule all you want but nothing ever happens according to the schedule. The stress and freak out for no good reason. If everyone just relaxed and dealt with problems as they happened instead of trying to anticipate every possible problem that might arise, life would be much happier.
Basically, the point that I'm trying to make is to just stop for a second, relax and take a deep breath. The world isn't coming to an end. You can't anticipate every situation. You just need to take things as they come and deal with it. Maybe they should try doing some Yoga.
For example, let's say you can't find your wallet. What do most people think right away once they realize that it's gone? Someone stole my wallet! And it probably turns out that you just misplaced it. I know that I have never had my wallet stolen but I have misplaced it at least a dozen times. Why don't people just calm down, take a deep breath and gather their emotions and think logically.
At my church, I and a couple others set up a wireless access point. It has proven to be a bit problematic at times but for the most part it's been pretty reliable considering that number of people that it supports. It's not exactly enterprise level but it will do for what it's being asked to do. Lately there has been a couple of problems with it and everyone automatically assumes that since it's not working that someone hacked into it and changed the password. It seems that there are a few people at my church that have just enough knowledge about technology to be dangerous. They know just enough to be able to jump to outrageous conclusions and spread that fear amongst everyone around them. Why would anyone want to hack our wireless access point? Does anyone really care? If I were a hacker, I would target systems that were challenging and that had some bragging rights that came along with it. What kind of hacker would be proud of himself for hacking into a church's wireless network? I could see some kids trying to hack into the network but I'm not stupid enough to leave it totally vulnerable. It's protected well enough that the casual hacker will spend months trying to hack into the system and fail. A truly experienced hacker with the skill to break into the network won't give a flying crap about our network.
There is an Egyptian festival at my church this weekend that they stupidly call the King Tut Festival. King Tut is a pagan Pharaoh and have absolutely nothing to do with Christianity. The only reason why they call it the King Tut Festival is because they think that most non-Egyptians know absolutely nothing about Egypt other than King Tut and the pyramids. Some people are extremely ignorant. I remember when I was a kid and some of my friends would find out that I was Egyptian, they would ask if I lived in a pyramid and if my dad road a camel to work. Thank God, people today are slightly more culturally aware. But I digress......
So everyone is stressing out about the festival. They have done a lot more marketing and advertising for the festival than they normally do this year and I think they are expecting it to bring in a huge number of people. I don't think it will be that different that it is has been in years past. Normally, there would be a few non-Egyptians but for the most part the festival is for people from our church to come and spend their money. I am sure that the marketing and advertising will increase the number of non-Egyptians that come but it won't nearly make the difference that they are hoping for.
Since they think that thousands of people will show up instead of the 250-500 that I expect to see, they are hitting up everyone and their mother to volunteer. They have schedules at each booth and insist that everyone sign up. I know how Egyptians work and I know that you can schedule all you want but nothing ever happens according to the schedule. The stress and freak out for no good reason. If everyone just relaxed and dealt with problems as they happened instead of trying to anticipate every possible problem that might arise, life would be much happier.
Basically, the point that I'm trying to make is to just stop for a second, relax and take a deep breath. The world isn't coming to an end. You can't anticipate every situation. You just need to take things as they come and deal with it. Maybe they should try doing some Yoga.
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