"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time,

... and your government when it deserves it." - Mark Twain


I have gone a whole two days without a driver and I am deeply depressed.
We need to solve this, like, yesterday.

Am I disloyal and truly unpatriotic for wanting to just leave Saudi Arabia?


ubergirl

A Bunch of Hooey

I read this in the paper yesterday:

"The 'commitittee' Anticipates Women's Day at the Janadriya."

I don't quite understand?


1. Women are not some sort of disease. Why must our arrival be anticipated and prepared for?:

"Oh my God. THE WOMEN ARE COMING!"

"Damn it, AGAIN? Go get your shots everyone... No-one is immune. We must be prepared."

Enough with the drama. Can't we just fucking show up without all the hoopla?



2. I thought this was a 'cultural event.' Why are the Muttawas involved?

WHY ARE THEY ALWAAAAAAAAAAAAYS INVOOOOOOOOOLVED?

It's the damn Janadriya. They talk about it like it's an orgy.
Trust me, it's not.





Not that I'm going.

I'll only ever go when the Muttawas are not part of the 'cultural experience.'

ubergirl

Tarja Halonen

Arabic media has been paying a lot of attention to the American presidential race.
Particularly to the democrats.

A big issue here is that a woman cannot lead a country. No one says this outright, of course.
They don't want people to think they're not modern.

It's more in the tones. The body language.

When I called a friend on it a few weeks ago, she admitted that she thought women were good at some things, men at other things (like leading a country.)
Typical nonsense from an unexpected source.
People never cease to surprise me.

"What about the president of Finland?" I asked.
She is a woman, after all. I can't say I know much about her presidency, but surely she is more of a successful leader than, say, all of the Arab leaders combined? Times 92384934728394721 squared?

Also, she famously resembles my main man, Conan O'Brien, making her all the more capable of successfully running a country.

Anyway.

It angers me how brainwashed our people are. It is 2008 and our educated 20 year olds do not think a woman can run a country.
Their argument is, if we are all truly equal, then why were we created differently? Why are there male and female human beings? Because we are suited to different roles.

Uhh.... No.

We were created looking differently because life is one. big. fucking. TEST.
It is a test to see who will use those differences as a way to divide everyone, and claim superiority (and inferiority, sisters. You contribute to this too.)
That is also why there are black people and white people and Asian people and brown people. Because this is a test to see who will choose to be racist and judge people on what they look like. Or what their genitalia looks like.
And it looks like many of my countrymen are failing this test miserably.
Thay fail to see the bigger picture; that we are more alike than we are different.


That being said, I have to say I'm on the Barack Obama bandwagon.
And you'd all best follow suit.


ubergirl

Let's Try and Put Things Into Perspective...

I was listening to some people complain about how we Saudis are mistreated in airports all over the world. Going through extra security and having to take off our shoes and answer to rude Europeans about why we're in their country when all we're doing is throwing our money at them and they should be happy about us and anyway, isn't this racist?

I understand why most (probably all) of Saudi Arabia is offended by this treatment.
Don't worry, I am not going to argue that we deserve it because of our evil ways.
(You know, how we enjoy blowing things up.)

I actually think we deserve it for another reason: Karma.

I'll get straight to the point: How horribly do we treat our foreign help?
I'm talking about drivers, maids, Indian construction workers...
And not only are they treated appallingly at airports, but everywhere else.

What we Saudis put them through is torture. I am shocked at how this goes... Not unnoticed; I think people certainly notice it, but what is shocking is how this is acceptable.
We have these people working outside in the July sun for hours on end, when it is illegal to have anyone working in that kind of heat.
And what they are payed is shocking. I heard that on average these people make four hundred riyals a month, that's roughly one hundred and six dollars.
And that is not all. That's probably not even the worst of it!

We have treated them this way for decades.
And we see nothing wrong with this.
And then we wonder why we are treated like the scum of the earth all over the world.

I just wonder why it took so damn long for it all to catch up to us.
I mean, we have missed a huge chance to make up for the mistreatment of our foreign help! HUGE!

I am deeply, deeply ashamed of this.
I think these workers are incredible.
Think of all the hardship they have had to endure in their lives. Compare it to being searched a bunch of times at an airport, what we are complaining of.
Now think of how many of them there are. You probably see dozens of them everyday. You pass them without so much as a smile or a nod, to show your gratitude.
And then we have gone on to play the victim, not even acknowledging what we have done to deserve mistreatment.
Shame on us.

What happened to having perspective?
Where are all the smart people?
Why aren't they on TV telling everyone that they are idiots if all they care about is how rude the customs people are at Heathrow?

After spending twenty years on this earth, I am still confused.
Why don't we all just be nice to everyone? Having empathy is really not that difficult.


ubergirl

World, I Am Not a House Plant

Today my friend told me an incredible story.

At a security check-point in the Diplomatic Quarter a man and his wife were stopped. The officer asked the usual questions, what are you here for?.. ect. Nothing out of the ordinary.

And then, he asked: "Does this belong to you?" ("hatha taba3ak?", to be more precise) indicating the man's wife.
Like she were a house plant or a sock. Or a toilet seat. Or a dirty magazine. Or a box of rice-crispies. Or a pickle jar... Hey.. Thinking up random objects is fun!

Anyway.
I'm sending this message out into the world: I refuse to be a houseplant, and by gum if I am ever treated like one there will be hell to pay.

"Hell" being a hell of a lot of screaming from my end, ofcourse.

However, if I ran the world that culprit would be arrested and forced to eat fried mud for sixty-three days.
That'd teach him.

ubergirl

PS. Thinking up random punishments is also fun, by the way.

I'm Warning You, This Is Ugly

"Today I'd like to talk about the issue of Saudi Arabian women driving cars."

God.

"All the liberals want women to drive here. But I don't think it would be right. Think of all the car accidents they'll cause! And a woman can't possibly drive her car alone. She'd have to be accompanied by her brother or something. And what man would stand to be driven around by a woman? I mean.. It's not right. And anyway.. A recent survey shows that only 32% of women actually want to drive."

"And who conducted this survey?"

"Oh, I did! Think about it... We'd have to have policewomen. How will that work!?"
She laughs.

I didn't argue because I don't have the time nor energy.
And because I knew it would be fruitless.
Some people are just idiots, and no matter how hard you try to knock some common sense into their heads, you fail.

الله يعظم أجرنا

(Do you know how long it took me to type that in Arabic?)

ubergirl