Is it fashionable to pretend to be an airhead?
September 17, 2009 at 8:31 pm 11 comments
This morning I was listening to one of the popular FM radio stations on the way to the office from a meeting. There was a competition going on. Callers were being asked very simple questions – if they answered 3 of the questions, they would qualify for a prize.
So one of the questions was: Complete the name of the following James Bond Movie: “The Man with the Golden ___________ (options were provided: Tooth, Gun or Eagle). It took a long while before one of the participants answered correctly.
Another question was: Complete the following sentence: “An apple a day keeps the _____ away”. Would you believe that one of the callers asked for some hints in order to be able to answer the question correctly.
Similarly, the RJ asked one of the callers: How many books has Dan Brown written prior to the release of his new book “The Lost Symbol”. The caller said he had watched one of the films but hadn’t read any of the books.
By now I was pulling out my hair. How could these young people with American accents not know the answers to such simple questions? We have so many talented young people in this country. Many of the technologists that I meet are into reading – whether it be fiction, thrillers or science fiction or autobiographies. They are concerned about the society in which they live. They discuss issues and try and find solutions. So where have these airheads comes from? Are accents and fashionable clothes and carrying the latest mobile phone all that these kids are into? Is giggling and pretending to be dumb considered fashionable? Arggggggggh!
Fortunately a young woman came on who answered all the questions correctly and appeared surprised that anyone could have had trouble answering them. Good for you kid!
Oh and I forgot to mention the flaky RJ who was hosting a show later in the day. He related a story about a cyclist who travelled to 32 countries of the world with just US$2 in his pocket. He admitted that he didn’t know the exchange rate, nonetheless he rounded the two dollars off to around Rs. 220. I guess he knows something we don’t. The rupee is at Rs. 82 to the dollar and not Rs. 110. Hmmm ….
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In the Line of Wire 
1.
kirannazish | September 17, 2009 at 8:57 pm
I have an answer to your question: Pseudo Individualism!
2.
obaid | September 17, 2009 at 9:36 pm
i have a different feeling about these ppl, but i will keep that for another time.
I have met enough of these airheads in my life that i can identify them with my eyes closed, just takes one conversation to find that out
But to be fair, those who are NOT airheads are too busy to call these radio shows, so that’s why you end up with callers like these 🙂
3. Is it fashionable to pretend to be an airhead? | Tea Break | September 18, 2009 at 2:21 am
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4.
The Daily Reviewer | September 18, 2009 at 11:32 am
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5.
jman | September 18, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Well this is what happens when technology rules over us. It dumbs us down. We are nothing without Google are with?
http://www.iwwwrite.blogspot.com ( a blog that is as clever as you, dear reader) Ha
6.
The Jaywalker | September 18, 2009 at 11:48 pm
The other day, one RJ asked for “words” that are difficult to pronounce. Somebody turned in “schizophrenia,” and the RJ didn’t even spell it—disbelieving that it was a word from the dictionary. Some other person sent “Mustansar Hussain Tarar,” and he started laughing as if he had heard this name for the first time.
Perhaps people might not agree but around 30 we might not be too old but we do belong to “older generation.” The kids of the “facebook” and “twitter” age seem to have a completely different view of life.
7.
Tazeen | September 20, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Oh I am so glad other people are as peeved as I am at the dumbing down of the RJ world. when RJs would be as stupid as most of these guys are, chances are that their callers would be just as dumb, if not dumber than them …
8.
zs | September 23, 2009 at 3:26 pm
Hi Jehan Ara,
I emailed you a couple of times at your p@sha email address … I hope you got those emails. Please let me know if there’s a better email address to reach you at.
Regards.
9.
Salman Latif | September 24, 2009 at 12:17 am
Lol.
So much for the pretentious accents. I’ve seen people who simply want to rant in English, when they can’t and people who want to talk about West and it’s literature even at moments when Ishfaq Ahmed is under discussion. This sort of pretension is particularly found among the english-speaking(or so they call it) minority here…
I’d say it’s not about being an airhead – rather, it’s about pretending what one is not and then having to face the consequence.
10.
Pakistan Basic Accounting Software BizCore-i | September 24, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Congratulations! Your readers have submitted and voted for your blog at The Daily Reviewer. We compiled an exclusive list of the Top 100 Pakistan Blogs, and we are glad to let you know that your blog was included! You can see it at
11.
Zubia Jamil | October 21, 2009 at 4:58 pm
I feel glad that i have stumbled across your blog heaving heard a lot about you and the the efforts that you have been making for Pakistan’s IT industry. Also, its a pleasure to know that you seem to have your sense of humor still intact working against all odds. 🙂
about airheads: well.. I feel, we have been lucky enough to be brought up by educated (where by educated, i don’t mean just getting degrees and learning english) families,but most people do not. Focus of majority of the families in Pakistan is not getting education to learn or to attain knowledge but just to get a degree to get a good job and earn money. I wouldn’t blame them too much too cos considering the current inflation, even roti, kapra and makan (the basic three needs) are hard to attain even for a middle class man. So, in such a situation who would care much for james bond or Dan Brown. In our country majority watches only indian movies for entertainment, maybe because they have too much stressed lives in general that some thing light and entertaining is all they prefer to see.
However, I do hope, that the youths realize that importance of knowledge and develop hunger for it and strive for it. :o)
ps: *bluses* I do admit i did not the answer to first and the third question. I took gun as a random guess. I never liked pierced Brosnon too much and his bond movie was the first one i saw, so I never took fancy to bond movies.
Read Da Vinci Code, wasn’t too found of his writing style, so never followed his books or writings as well. 😀
pps: yup! the DJs are extremely dumb. :o) but then again, maybe that is the representation of the intellect of a common man of Pakistan and should force us to realize that how much more work we need to do for this country and for its people. How else do poor people fall prey to the theories of taliban or the political leader and get exploited.
Long Live Pakistan and its people! Let knowledge be our power 😀