Just ran into this blog the other day. From the website:
The diary of a Saudi man, currently living in the United Kingdom, where the Religious Police no longer trouble him for the moment.
A sample post:
The Work Ethic
When God created Saudi Arabia, he also presented us with three gifts:
- The Holy Mosques at Makkah and Madinah, for our spiritual needs
- The Oilfields, for our material needs
- The Indian Subcontinent, so that we had people to sweep out the former and pump out the latter.
Perhaps as a result of this, we have developed certain fixed ideas about what we will and will not do for a career.
Generally, we want to work in:
- the Armed Forces, Police, or Security services. However, you need to be in "the right tribes" to get these jobs.
- Saudi Airlines. As pilots, naturally. Egyptians (men and women) usually work as the cabin staff.
- Banks. (Nice clerical jobs)
- Civil Service (ditto)
- University or School. (teachers are very revered in Islam)
- Mosques (Imams ditto)
- Other professions, or as "Managers". But not salesmen, that's for the pushy Lebanese.
He then talks about a job opening for 500 people where 10,000 Saudi's showed up. Needless to say, they have their own rules for standing in line (Queueing in England):
The Four Rules of Saudi Queueing.
1. Queue is a foreign word, for foreigners. Saudis do not need to queue. If you see a line of people, that indicates that there is something desirable at the front, and it is waiting for you, so just go and get it.
2. If the line is from the Indian subcontinent, they will not dare to stop you from going to the front. Indeed they will be grateful, in their quiet and humble way, that you have honored their line with your presence.
3. If the line contains Westerners, they may object to your going to the front. Affect not to understand their unrefined languages. If some smartass has a smattering of Arabic, pull a face that suggests you can't make head or tail of his silly accent. However if there are no other Saudis around, be careful, as some of them can become extremely threatening and physical. The men can be scary as well.
4. If you meet another Saudi at the head of the queue, precedence goes to the better family or tribe. Unless one of you has a relation behind the window or whatever it is you are queueing for. However if a Bedu from out of the desert turns up, let him go first, because everyone expects him to be pig-ignorant and not understand queues and you just can't be assed trying to explain it to him, and anyway he can't read so he's probably come to the wrong place and he'll bugger off soon enough as it is.
Very much worth reading and will be added to the blogroll...
