MADINA/AL-KHARJ – Even as the red mercury in Singer sewing machines rumors are dying down, the effects on the country’s social fabric are coming to light, though slowly.
A woman in Madina was surprised that the check she got from the buyer of her sewing machine bounced at the bank. And more bizarre was the case of a man divorcing his wife in public following a dispute over who deserved the amount the couple got after selling their sewing machine.
In the Harraj market where used items are sold, the couple differed on dividing the amount they received for their sewing machine. As the wife did not obey her husband by relinquishing her share, the husband swore that he would divorce her on the spot.
Umm Muhammad, the woman in Madina who received a bad check, started wailing after the bank teller told her that there was no cash in the account of the one to whom she had sold her machine. The man wrote her a check for SR80,000 for her Singer sewing machine and disappeared into the crowd with the machine under his arm. – Okaz/SG