For some time now we have been witnessed to an increase in electronic or magnetic cards in Tehran. I won\'t talk about the hottest topic of the past few months -- the Gasoline Rationing Card (GRC). From public phone cards to employee cards, from metro cards to teller cards, and the newly introduced parking meter cards, our lives are getting magnetic by the day. The parking meter cards accept rial bills and return change. Now Tehrani citizens can proudly pay their parking fees with electronic cards or simply use these machines for change.
We are talking about electronic cards and not change. However, we may ask: Why would you have e-cards in a city where you hardly have e-cash or e-banking or laws pertaining to electronic banking and exchange? I don\'t imagine answering this question would require great effort by qualified researchers. We need research only when we want to prove our superiority to others (say when it comes to nuclear energy). It is possible that the government has established several e-card manufacturing factories that now need a reason to continue their operation. Of course, with GRC we have forever guaranteed the survival of these card manufacturers. We are bound, I am positive, to find new and previously unimaginable uses for them cards.
I did manage to talk about e-cards without mentioning the all-powerful gasoline cards, the same one that have been the talk of town, from obtaining them to problems of pumping gas using them to gasoline import and per-capita consumption of gasoline and free-market prices….
I have a theory with which we can explain many behaviors of the Iranian society. I call it the National Craft Coefficient (NCC). Let me define National Craft: The ability to or capacity for spontaneously stepping on the rights of others, especially of Iranian nationality, to one\'s own benefit in the short term. The number of those whose rights have been violated, the speed with which this is done, and the degree of creativity in using means to achieve this end are parameters through which we can determine the craft coefficient. Complexity of the method used and the time it takes to implement have a reverse relationship with the coefficient. I have tried to apply this theory to observations and to test its efficacy. That I have called it \"national\" is for two reasons: For one, I have never had a chance to visit other countries and for another, since a stupid measure like GNP carries a \"national\" tag, why not make this one NATIONAL.
Iranians have a great desire to step on rights and are adamant that \"rights are there to be stepped on.\" In any situation that goods or goals do not meet demands or capacities, the question of craft come in. Instances are many: Before a traffic light, in line to purchase concert tickets, parking situations, at the bank to conduct a transaction, and many others that have to do with lines or queues. We are a proud nation and we demand to be serviced outside of bothersome rules and regulations.
I was going home on a bus couple of days ago when in the middle of the way rain started pouring. I was tired and didn\'t notice how strong it poured, nor did I have a good vantage point. When I reached my destination and stepped outside, it was then that I realize the extent of the downpour. I could only detect the light of buildings on the two sides of the streets. Cars were much like water-skiers cleaving their way through. I managed to cross the main street without getting drenched by water jets, only to realize that the alleys had turned into tributaries of Ganges River. So, I lifted my pants and braved my way home ankle-deep in water. It was an interesting experience, in the middle of a hot summer day.
These rich nations talk more and more about Global Warming these days, don\'t they?