Hummus, the pasty substance that can make or break a family!
In a small köy of North London, England it was a Sunday like no other. The sun was out and the kebab was being prepared for a lovely family meal to be enjoyed later that day.
Everything was going well, but as we all know when things are going well, that is the perfect moment when things can take a turn for the worse.
Hatice hanim asked her 27 year old son Umut to run to the supermarket to pick up some extra groceries, a trip which would change the course of destiny FOREVER.
“I thought I raised my son properly” Hatice tells us exclusively.
“I gave Umut a list of items including maydonoz, limon, yedi gun – not Fanta as it makes me gassy” (she went on for a while telling us everything on the list).
But it was one item that was left off the list that would change the family unit forever.
Umut managed to find all the items including some kiraz which wasn’t on the list but was a gift for his mother to enjoy later.
However at the last second Umut realised one item was missing that was a staple ingredient of any family meal – hummus.
Reaching for his phone he sent a what’s app message asking if they needed hummus, however spelt it ‘HOUMOUS’.
“I thought it was a joke at first. Umut always likes to make jokes so I ignored it” Hatice explained
“It was when he followed up with the spelling HUMUS. Who on earth forgets the extra M. What kind of son have I raised?”
A few seconds later Umut replied again with the following message:
“hummus*. Sorry autocorrect”
A mistake Umut says was due the phones autocorrect feature, and that he would never do something like this to disappoint his mother. A mistake that was received like domuz at a mevlit.
We spoke with Umut in a 60 minute interview and he explained that he was holding a patlican at the time and it was a busy Sunday in the supermarket. He didn’t have time to think so sent the message quickly because he wanted to get out before he saw Ayşe abla who is the local dedikoducu.
The family are disappointed and are seeking help from the local Hoca to see if he can help fix their son.
Umut, 30 from Enfield London still wonders why this is even a big deal.
We spoke to Umuts father Reşat but he was too busy watching the mangal to comment.
Was it a simple mistake from technology? was it a case of someone forgetting their routes? or was it a case of a Turkish family over reacting?
UPDATE: Umut has moved to Dubai to escape criticism from his Teyze’s and mums friends (including Ayşe abla).
