"Nadeed Bedeed" (+ I have a new phone!)

Last weekend, I bought a new phone. Yes, I finally took the plunge and decided to abandon my 5-year-old Sony Ericsson (I forget the model number) in favor of fully gadgetized Nokia. I had been so loathe to part with the Ericsson model that I had superglued the number 7 button back on (so that the phone only be missing 1 button rather than 2). Who cares that the camera was broken and some of the functions didn't work? It was my phone and I liked it.

Anyway, after transferring my phone numbers to my new N97, I put all the other accessories neatly away and used my fingernail to try to stick back down the edge of the plastic covering protecting the face of the phone. Now this phone, being particularly nifty, attracted a lot of attention; but unfortunately, attention quickly shifted from the phone to the fact that I had left the plastic on. What has happened to me? In the past (with the exception of that phone which I had a strange attachment to) I have been more known for making impulse purchases that are outside my budget and then quickly proceeding to drop the particularly costly and/or fragile items a number of times. (Clearly I am not of the Baby Boomer generation, nor am I much of a "plugger").

And now... Nadeed bedeed... Indeed! A Farsi-speaking student explained this concept to me as he eyed my phone. A villager who suddenly moved to the city and buys the nice things that he has never been able to afford in the past is so awed by his new possessions that he decides to keep all the plastic on, despite the relative inconvenience (it isn't so nice to sleep on a mattress still in its plastic - even if there are sheets over it).

I feel the shame.

I remember when I first came to Kurdistan and couldn't figure out why drivers of new taxis had left all sorts of plastic wrapping/sealing on parts of their car (even windshields) , etc. It seems on some subconscious level, I now understand. I vow that tonight is the night the plastic comes off!