Job Discussion Forums

Cleopatra · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2003 6:52 am Post subject: What's With Saudi Expats?

Reading a recent post about how so many departing Saudi expats attempt to sell (yes, sell!) grubby items like used chopping boards, shoes and (thankfully, unused) razor blades reminds me of why I think I've failed to find too many soulmates among the Saudi ex-pat 'community'. Have these people no shame? More to the point, have they no friends?

OK, I know we're all here in large part for the money, but that's no excuse to close your eyes to the culture around you. So many people I've met here seem to expect that everything should be just like it is back home, and when they find that of course it isn't, they blame it on the Saudis rather than on their own ignorance. OK, plenty of nasty stuff goes on here but it's not like their own countries are perfect. If they were, why did they leave them?

Another thing I've found is that "Westerners" seem to have a real sense of entitlement here. By that I mean that they think that having a "Western" passport entitles them to be treated like demigods. When this doesn't happen, they go around moaning about people being "anti-Western". Did it never occur to them that they might just be "anti-Saudi" or "anti-non Western" in general?

Having said all this, I must add that I've met plenty of open-minded, tolerant people here. But I have to say, they're in the minority. Maybe I've just been unlucy? Or is it the case that, more and more, KSA is attracting 'losers' who just couldn't cut it at home and feel that they are somehow superior here?

johnslat · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2003 10:05 am Post subject: I'm back

Dear Cleopatra,
I'm back in the States now, at my sister's place in Boston. Now. regarding your question:
" Or is it the case that, more and more, KSA is attracting 'losers' who just couldn't cut it at home and feel that they are somehow superior here? "

Not me, of course - I feel superior EVERYWHERE ( and that's a purely objective evaluation ).
Hey, it's good to be back - but darn it, there are some things ( such as cheap cigarettes ) that I miss already.
Regards,
John

khmerhit · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2003 2:27 pm Post subject: newspaper articles

yeah sorry

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

First off I have to get over my shock that Mr Physical Fitness of KSA smokes cigarettes?? Gasp!! Time to break that last bad addiction John!! Smile

As to Cleopatras accurate analysis of Saudi expats, I would generalize that description to the whole Gulf region. I too was always amazed at some of the things they try to 'sell.' I restricted selling to my car and furniture (in places that it was mine to sell, of course). But, I always gave away the little stuff to the various maids, gardeners, guards, and/or friends.

Anyway, the type of people you describe have been all around the Gulf for the whole time that I was there. Perhaps it just feels like more to you because it is one of those things that bothers you more and more the longer you watch it.

VS
(the news articles appeared as I was typing - they seem to be a change of topic, but do report the current situation for the two major groups of expats. They should have perhaps been given a new thread?)

Mark100 · Joined: 05 Feb 2003 Posts: 441

There was a lady in Aramco selling used Xmas cards for 5 riyals each...

yes true story!!!!

Cleopatra · Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2003 10:23 am Post subject:

I know Xmas cards can be hard to find here but ... there is a limit, isn't there?
By the way, if you're interested in used kiddies clothes, a colleague of mine would love to sell you some!
VS, is it really the same scene in the UAE? Oh dear, I'm planning to go there once I get my Masters and was somehow hoping that there'd be a smaller percentage of saddos there. I suppose at least in the UAE you're not so cloistered as you are here, and have more control over the people you befriend.
Insh'allah ...

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Hi Cleo

Well, since I've never been to KSA (ilhamdulilah!) I couldn't say if it is exactly the same. Smile

But I have certainly encountered this situation in the other Gulf countries. I suspect that it has something to do with the fact that there is a huge underclass of poor workers who provide a market for what most of us consider junk. In Oman there were weekend meets where people sold things out of the trunks of their cars. I would expect that if one went to many yard/garage sales in the US, you would find people trying to sell similar junk and finding a similar market. Like you, I still find it strange and disconcertingly greedy.

VS
(loved the used Christmas card story ---)

Cleopatra · Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2003 4:42 am Post subject:

Dear VS,

In my experience, the market for ma'asalama sales are not the thrid World workers, but fellow "Western" expats. For example, an Australian colleague of mine recently left and sold her used bedsheets (!!!) to a new arrival. Other people I know have a bit more perspective and give the stuff away, either to their friends or to the cleaner. But there's still way too much of the 'come-and-get-a-used-plastic-strainer-for-5-rials" stuff.

When I asked about UAE expats, I was thinking of the whole deal, not just the maassalama sales. As I wrote in my post, I find too many expats here to be, wage slaves who feel that having white skin somehow makes them superior to everyone else, incl. - no, especially - the people who pay them so well. They take no interest in the country or people and just lock themselves up in their sad little expat world, where they can moan about how awful it is to be a "Westerner". Yeah, right. In fact, KSA is the only country I know of where "Westerners" officially get paid more than locals for doing the same job.

Please say it's not so bad in the UAE ...!