... pretty quiet in the Sandbox. Not that that isn't a good thing. Eleven more days of Ramadan and then Eid and life will get back to "normal." I really want to go downtown to get some things done - beyond going to the grocery stores [yes, stores - plural - since it is impossible to find everything you need at ONE single grocery store - you have to go to the grocery stores]. Saturday morning is the best time to try to go downtown to get things done - when it isn't Ramadan - because everyone else has been wherever they need to go during the weekend - Thursday and Friday - and it is relatively quiet and sane on the streets of Khobar. But, since almost nothing is open during the day during Ramadan, any shopping that isn't for food and basic necessities will have to wait until after Eid. It is frustrating if you are trying to get things done. And, that is putting it mildly.
I get so angry when I read stories like this. Imagine if the "shoe was on the other foot," and if Saudis were treated like they treat expats who have come to work in this country. The outrage would never end. These "little guys" are the workers that grease the wheels of this country to make it run smoothly and they are mistreated on a daily basis. Authorities have the muscle to force companies to pay their workers and provide accommodations and food, per the terms of the workers' contracts and yet, nothing happens - to the companies - it is the workers who must suffer. The owner of the company who contracted these workers from India needs to be thrown in jail. For a long time. Merely giving warnings in the form of written notice is pretty much the equivalent of doing nothing. Why bother...
And, it isn't just the "little guys" that are getting the short end of the stick. Doctors are not getting their due, either. Why on earth would anyone - professionals or street cleaners - want to come to a country to work when their worth has virtually no value? It is not a deep, dark secret why we have all come here to work. There is only one reason we are here. And this country will see an exodus of professionals who have more choices than the "little guys," if they are not given the worth and value they deserve. When that happens, expect to see a lot more reports of babies being turned away at hospitals because there are no medical personnel to provide care...
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The last laugh will be on the Saudis. The only thing they invest in is jihad. Their money goes to terrorists and their defense budget (and their good times), their women go to the rich men, their sexually-frustrated poor men who can't afford a wife go off to fight the infidels in the hopes of dying and raping 72 virgins perpetually in Eternity...
ReplyDeleteWhen the oil runs out and they find themselves sitting on a generally unimproved desert lot with no other means of income, they will economically be back in the Dark Ages, which is where they now are politically and philosophically.
"My father rode a camel. I drive a car. My son flies a jet. His son will ride a camel."
I have said it before Yankee Doodle, that if we all left - every single last one of us - this country would come to a halt. People would be back to riding camels and living in tents. All the more reason to make some changes to the way they treat the imported laborers, and some of the professionals as well. And make changes to teach the Saudis how to build houses - not supervise the building, but the actual labor, and repair cars and air conditioners and appliances, etc. Because you are right - when that oil money dries up...
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