Furqan Muhammad-Haroon's 15-seconds of fame (and idiocy)

I am so frustrated with recent “fake” abductions.

Consider this a warning, this is a long and lengthy post, poorly organized and more a rant than anything else.

Does anyone remember the story about a New Brunswick woman being forced at gunpoint to drive a man 17 hours to Toronto? I read it first here when news broke out that Marcia Simmons was car-napped and told to drive to Steeles and Don Mills from her home in New Brunswick. In case that link is dead, check it out here.

There was initial shock about how something like this could occur in broad daylight. As more facts surfaced, Simmons recanted her story and admitted to it being false. In case that link is dead, check it out here.

After that came to light, I was astonished at why a person would fake their own abduction and case so many people anguish and despair. When another such story broke the headlines in the past week, I did not even stop to think that the abducted, in this case 22 year old Furqan Muhammad-Haroon, would try to fake his own capture. His “kidnapping” was chronicled by Toronto Star from the beginning to end, which you can find here with links to original Toronto Star articles (or just Google him and read for yourself).

Hours after his alleged abduction, a Facebook group was created to help find him; I joined because I truly felt bad for him and his family to be suffering in such a way during Ramadan. Add to that the expenses his family incurred due to flying back to Toronto from their vacation and the grief in his father’s voice when he pleaded for his son’s return, and I was a goner for this cause. At last check (meaning, when I left the group in disgust) the member count was at over 1,000 people. This morning, the group had disappeared, likely deactivated because of his friends being ashamed at Furqan’s behavior. Unfortunately I did not take any screenshots of the things people were saying on this discussion board about everything that has come to be (the wall was deactivated. Surprise surprise); his Facebook profile is still open for people to see though, so I thought I would nab some pictures before that is locked away as well:







Okay, now let’s step back shall we? I don’t want to judge this man before he’s had a say in court (can’t wait to read about that in a couple hours) because we all know media loves to sensationalize everything. However, this is what I’ve been able to gather so far:

1) He was abducted from a road in Scarborough in broad daylight (so he says), on the day he was supposed to fly out to meet his vacationing family.
2) A group was formed on Facebook asking for his return; this group urged people to email a TorStar reporter with stories about his character but to please refrain from mentioning his financial troubles. This is where I started to get a little uneasy about everything.
3) His parents and brother flew back from their vacation to beg for his return.
4) The public is made aware that Furqan was fired from IBM recently because of theft for under $5,000. His court date was set for mid-September.
(Let’s pause. He’s flying out when he has a court date scheduled? Is that even legal?)
5) Apparently not. The police start to suspect that there was no actual abduction.
6) An anonymous call was made and Furqan Muhammad-Haroon was located in St. Catherines, Ontario safe and alone. He was taken into custody and charged with public mischief. A court date was set for 10am today (August 26).

Assuming what the media is saying is true and the man did fake his own abduction, it begs the question Why? Why put your friends and family through this ordeal? I can almost picture him planning this out, thinking it would be alright. Someone must be truly desperate to hide something like a theft charge from their parents to even begin to think this could work. He is going to lose (or has already lost) the respect of many classmate, friends, and colleagues. What’s worse though is how this will affect his family. The Muslim/Pakistani community is a very tight-knit one that is prone to a lot of gossip. People are always looking for a new scandal to talk about; I can’t imagine what his parents are going through right now knowing that (even if there is some modicum of truth in all this) their family’s name and reputation has been tainted for good.

What bugs me even more than that is how this story will negatively impact all Muslims. No one discussed Marcia Simmons’ religion when her story broke, but people continuously referenced religion in this case, which may have been a huge mistake. Furqan was hailed as a “good Muslim boy” with strong values and morals who would never do anything wrong. Nice. Good morals and values eh? When was it Islamic to steal from their workplace?

Finally, what irritates me the most is how events like those surrounding Marcia Simmons and Furqan Muhammad-Haroon can impact future abductions. When people are actually in trouble, the public may believe that this is simply another hoax by someone. The chances of dedicated support and service to those individuals may be compromised (however unwillingly) by the actions of these people. Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic.

Dundas Square/Toronto Life Centre

I love Yonge-Dundas Square/Toronto Life Centre.

S and I headed over to the Futureshop located on Yonge Street (just north of Dundas) to check out their super duper crazy exciting customer appreciation day deals. Didn’t find anything that crazy or exciting actually. I was really hoping that they had some kind of special on this DSLR I’m looking into getting for the family (just in time for wedding preps) but no deal. They did have a 500gb hard drive and a 1tb hard drive that looked so tempting (I LOVE all things storage) but had to remind myself (repeatedly) that I had enough of it at home (and no computer to speak of).

Speaking of computers, every time I would wander into the laptop/Apple computer section of the store, I would be hounded by numerous salespeople looking to “help” me out. That’s great and all, but leave a girl alone! I just wanna play on the shiny machines before making a decision on something. The ratio of employees to customers who wanted to be helped was skewed!

After spending a little bit of time there, we headed to Dundas Square to wait for D so we could go catch a movie at the AMC. I absolutely love love love Dundas Square. Just sitting there and observing the hundreds of people who pass through it is soothing and relaxing. The multicultural mix of people all coming together seems a bit surreal. I think it’s wonderful to have the opportunity to just go sit in a public space and enjoy being without having to worry about explaining your actions or thoughts to anyone. For all the daydreaming I’ve been doing about moving to a small, remote community (preferably in the north) I sure do love being in a large city where you are just one of a few million, where you blend into the sidelines and remain a quiet bystander watching the world pass or you can meet hundreds of people every day, all with interesting tales to tell.

So we hung out there until D showed up and then headed to AMC to watch Post Grad. One word. AWFUL. That movie had all the elements of a somewhat pleasing romantic comedy: cute leads, interesting premise, and a dribbling of humour. What it lacked was good acting (Alexis Bledel, how can you suck that much?), direction, and originality. It seems the crew wanted to squish as much as they could into this movie and failed to build any one theme properly. I would definitely not recommend anyone watch that, be it in the theatre, your home or a horrid version on the internet. That is 1 hour and 45 minutes of my life that have been wasted with no redeeming factor (okay fine – Zach Gilford mmm).

Following the movie, S and I headed to Doner or Doner Kabob House (don’t know if that’s the official name). It’s on Yonge Street, just south of Gerrard Street next to the Big Slice. This place has the best chicken and rice with garlic sauce combo you will find in downtown Toronto. Their hot sauce is pretty awesome too, but be ready for some heartburn if you aren’t used to it. I love the family that runs it, always cheerful and who always remember my order. The lady often asks me about my: day/mom/work/school. It’s a staple in my diet, and one of the things I’m going to miss most about living in the heart of the city.

Box 1 and 2

I'm dreading the move out of downtown.

So I was able to pack one large tote box of clothes and a small cardboard box of personal books and DVDs to bring home yesterday. It was pretty sad packing everything and moving the stuff back home, to say the very least. S and I were both feeling kinda down about the prospect of packing up everything else in the next two weeks and moving it all back home. Sigh. I'm going to miss living in downtown.

On another note, S and I went down to Gerrard Street (Toronto's India Bazaar) with AB and an few out of towners last night. We decided to eat at Lahore Tikkah House (why we still go there is beyond me) and were coaxed into trying their new Ribs. One word. Awful. I ended up spitting out most of the meat because it had been overcooked. On the plus side, the side of potatoes that came with it were pretty yummy.

After having dinner, the five of us decided to walk around for a bit and were able to catch the end of a street festival happening there. Yesterday was a group of singers (may have been Rajasthani) accompanied by a female dancer who entertained with traditional songs and dances. The girl danced first with multiple clay pots on her head (or Matkas), balanced later on nails, and then performed the cobra dance. Pretty fun to watch. The whole week is supposed to have interesting live events for the people of Toronto to enjoy (check out the details at: http://www.festivalofsouthasia.com/schedules.html)

Finally, Ramadan Kareem to all those Muslims celebrating the start of the holy month of fasting today. Hope it's a good and safe one for all those partaking in it =)

Toronto Thunderstorm

I hate storms.

I was never really scared of them when I was a kid, always enjoying the feeling of playing in the cool rain and seeing the random streaks of lightning light up the entire world. Those feelings have obviously changed in the recent past. The crazy storm we had last week was one of the worst I've ever experienced and I was hoping not to experience that again. One comforting thought during that storm was that I was able to shepard everyone (okay force) into the basement for any just-in-case scenario. Today, I'm stuck in the apartment alone, listening to the howling winds outside tear at the city.

I guess I should do something to take my mind off things, so I've put on a movie that is silly/stupid enough to entertain. Here's hoping the distraction works.

Who Am I?

Everyday that passes brings me one day closer to moving back home with the parentals. It’s not that I hate my family or have some sort of repressed issues with them, I think I’ve just grown to the freedom and independence of living as a single unit away from the politics of family life.

It’s not just about having the freedom or mobility to just up and meet whoever I want to meet and do whatever I want to do, it’s about having someone to answer to. I’ve gone the past five years without having to tell someone why I am doing something, where I am going and when I will be back. I have spent quite a few days alone, reading, writing or watching tv in solitude because I enjoyed doing so. I have gone out when I wanted to. I have never had to answer for my moods. This was all change once I move back home.

The moving part is inevitable I suppose, and honestly I’ve had five wonderful years filled with experiences that will last me a lifetime. If I am being honest with myself, what bugs me the most is realizing that my life is progressing a lot faster than I want it to. All through my formative years (aka middle & high school), all I wanted to do was grow up and be taken seriously. Once I hit grade 12, I desperately clutched at the passing days of my final semester in fear of how different life would be in university. I cried, kicked a fuss and threw tantrums with my ego, hoping to convince myself that university was not the place for me and to take a year off to find myself.

In the end, responsibility prevailed and I ended up joining university, where I had the most amazing time of my life. Each day I met with new challenges which ultimately made me grow as a person. Living alone was a huge plus, but meeting a diverse group of people at school was the best lesson I could have learned.

I went through my days at school not realizing what I had, looking forward to completing each course and getting a decent grade. I made friends effortlessly, sometimes losing them just as easily. I experienced lust, deception, jealousy, courage, betrayal, heartbreak, and true love. I met some people who I paid little regard to, others who I held too high in esteem. I treated some people with excessive love and respect, others with none whatsoever. I met those people that have stood by me through all the troubles in the recent past, and have never judged me too severely for the questionable things I have done.

All this I realize now, not even six months after graduation. I long for the days I was a scared freshmen heading to the first day of my class. I want to go back in time and experience everything all over again. Because, though I’m trying to avoid doing this, I’ve had to take a look at my life and I have no idea where I’m going or who I’m supposed to be.

Hello World

I live in Toronto and have a tendency to overthink.

I analyze everything that happens, from the overly exciting to the ridiculously mundane – hoping that my careful examination of passing events/conversations/happenings will somehow reveal the answer to all of my questions. With all that analysis, my brain sometimes goes a little neurotic (poor thing doesn’t expect to be worked this much) and there is no place for my jumbled thoughts to go. The most obvious answer I’ve been toying with is to write in a public blog of my own, and by publishing this my idea has finally come to fruition.

I'm a 20-something living in the heart of Toronto, the best city in Canada. I love meeting new people, going out, doing stupid things, eating out and experiencing new things. I have recently graduated from Ryerson University, successfully completing the Information Technology Management (ITM) co-op program there and currently work as an analyst in the public sector in downtown Toronto.

Till later then.

Toodles