The years come and go, I have no problem with that,its how they creep up on you without a please or an excuse me, they just make way and count another day.

We all tend to get lost in our everyday life, just by showing up sometimes alive and well. The days seem to either be joyful, sad, miserable,fun, happy, lost, and I can go on forever on what you might feel in any given day. We focus on certain things that keep us in or around our comfort zones, never going out of our way to make sure everything else is being handled with care.

I used to blame it on the rain, but that’s long gone and done with, I always blame myself in the end, its me and only me that takes things for granted. It is me who never took the time to get closer and move in with my brothers and sister, Its me that never pushed for things to be. Its me that is the eldest of brothers, They said that I am the responsible one, I said I had enough of that, I can barely handle myself,sounds familiar?

People come up to me and say your my brother from another mother, I feel happy, but wait I have a brother from my original mother, where is he now? where are they now? what are they feeling? what are they facing? do they need my help? do they want me by their side? have I failed this darned responsibility my father and mother threw upon me and watched me fail and fail some more? I never meant to, please forgive me.

As I watch my brother, especially this one called “Ahmed” he is the end of the grape vine, as they say in arabic. He is our dearest youngster who was nothing but a baby in my eyes for many years. Today he is a grown proud man with his head full of great ideas and opportunites like never before. He makes me laugh in the strangest of moments, he has a sweet kind of personality you see.

Ahmed makes me proud for many reasons. He never caused any problems or was a brat while growing up, very quite individual, very discreet, yet very wild with his friends and very wise as they say.

Ahmed never made my parents angry, which is not normal these days, I made them angry many times while growing up, I hope they forgive me. Here is a run down of things i will miss in Ahmed:

• He kicks my ass in playstation soccer, while he is gone i will train like a maniac!
• He reminds me of myself at his age, loving every moment and learning new things every day.
• He is the closest to my son Sultan, I always call him Sultan and my son Ahmed.
• He is a great thinker for his age, you could always break a conversation with him and enjoy every idea being brought up.
• He cracks me up with his jokes and sarcastic comments.
• He remembers things I forgot when he was a young boy, very small details I never noticed he cherished, I will always remember them Ahmed.
• He is the future, I see it in his eyes, I hear it in his words, he has it made, he has already made me proud, and will continue to do so as long as I live.
• He makes sure my parents are OK and handles my mothers angry moods swings with a sweet smile, he handles my fathers requests like commands in the army, to the very last word.
• He manages to make everyone around him happy with his amazing insight, his world is an amazing one where him and his friends gather to have innocent fun and share some laughs.
• He shares his views with my brother Hazim, another smart one, who does not know what to do once he is gone? The love is common, I love them all, for the love they share.

I know now that I have wasted years away from you little brother, for I was occupied in my life trying to figure out things that never needed any figuring out in the first place. I managed to screw up many things in my life easily, fixed some, threw the rest away,I still play like we used to, I hope we never change little brother. When you come back home, the playing will be more I assure you, don’t lose that playful heart of yours.I love it when you and my son play a game or debate a subject while I witness you two going on in your own little worlds, I can say it with all my heart you make me proud, and I am happy that my son has an uncle like you Ahmed.I know I am talking too much now, I know that I should have done the talking earlier in my years, please forgive me, for I have been busy with non important things in my life, but that’s life you see, you only know the true value of someone when he decides to move on or gain an international degree for a few years or so.I promise you this my little brother, no matter how far you travel, how high you fly, how low you go, Always remember this very important piece of information, I will be by your side no matter where you decide to reside, one things for sure little bro, I will be there, you can count on it and take it to the Bank.I watch the hours go by today as you get ready to leave us for your education calling, As much as I want you to do that, as much as I want you to stay another day, or year(s). I know what you will become my little brother, only little in my memory, but a wise, handsome man, armed with the latest education and ambition anyone can dream of.

GO GET EM TIGER!

See you soon, very soon and Allah be with you, farewell my brother Ahmed.

Mamdooh Al-Radadi

me@mamdoohalradadi.com

WWII – A desperate time when humans found new and more terrible ways of killing each other. Out of this desperation came the Japanese suicide bomber. To the Kamikaze, bomb and bomber were one and the same. Called into power by Emperor Hirohito and creatively offered the rank of “God”, 2,500 men were to spend their last terrifying moments as human artillery streaking towards their target encased in airplanes, mini – subs, and bomb loaded speed boats. These “Knights of the Divine Wind”, so horrifyingly accurate in their attacks, took the lives of over 7,000 Allied servicemen during the reign of the first initiated, and there were still another 4,500 Japanese men being prepared for Knighthood. The fear of their human weapons became a critical factor in the U.S. decision to avoid an invasion of the Japanese mainland , and drop the Atomic bomb. The tactics of the Kamikaze continue to haunt the world to this day.

That was then, today the same is Kamikazi marketing. The marketing world is vast and large and takes different kinds of strategies and tactics. We are all aware of conventional marketing, then came Guerilla marketing which takes marketing to a whole new frontier,Typically, guerrilla marketing campaigns are unexpected and unconventional.The objective of guerrilla marketing is to create a unique, engaging and thought-provoking concept to generate buzz, and consequently turn viral. The term was coined and defined by Jay Conrad Levinson in his book Guerrilla Marketing. The term has since entered the popular vocabulary and marketing textbooks since.

What I am about to talk about is the new version of that, Kamikazi Marketing, suicide marketing, take all or none. The stakes are high and the casualties many, rewards are enormous, if any.

I don’t have a clear example other than the one i will share with you performed by one financial organization( affiliate/service admirer) in the heart of another financial organization. One comes to mind from my banking years, when SAMBA Visa was advertsiing non stop on MBC fm and other banks had music playing in their branches. SAMBA would be singing its tune in the core of the competitions operations. They later found out and shut down the music systems or changed the channel( Duh!).

I have in this post two pictures to tell my story, and thats all that he wrote folks!

This is one organization. If you look close you will seethe advertisement of the other.

Read the other financial organizations name, and guess what they have special offers for teachers!

Someone is not doing his job, or is it the lame fasting excuse?