Job Discussion Forums

Queen of Sheba · Joined: 07 May 2006 Posts: 397

Saudis and non-Saudis have and will continue to get traffic violations in KSA - read the paper. Saudis do and will continue to use wasta to get out of traffic tickets and punishment, this is ancient and tribal, like much else here, so what�s the big shock? Saudis and non Saudis do die in traffic accidents and Saudis seem to be fine with that, due to passivity etc., otherwise they would change their driving standards, allow women to drive, hire less foreign drivers, have better driving schools etc...until Saudis care nothing will change, we can jump up and down all day long at the injustice and stupidity of it all, and they will just gawk at us if we are women and laugh at us if we are men. So.....deal with it is my best advice to you, and don�t let it interfere with your work as a teacher. Give respect where respect is due, and be quiet about the rest, you aren�t going to change anything here - and you are on your way out of the country anyway.

Bebsi · Joined: 07 Feb 2005 Posts: 958

Look on the bright side, if Saudi women were allowed to drive, there would be twice as many of them on the roads...AAAARRRGGGHHHHHH!!!! Shocked

On a more serious note, the appalling driving standards in KSA are basically down to ignorance and lack of education. Yes indeed, Abba, their driver-training system is a complete joke, albeit a rather tragic one.

Still, I loved driving in KSA. I was able to tear along in a fast car at any speed I wanted, 220 KpH no problem. I also didn't have to engage in cissy things like seatbelts, I could drive on any side of the road I liked and change lanes at will, I didn't need to waste valuable time stopping at red lights, and at night, no-one harrassed me if I forgot to turn on my lights. I was, of course, able to call my friends on my mobile without having to use a hands-free, and when tired, I could put my feet up on the dashboard. Mind you, mirrors are a great thing in cars, especially when late for an appointment.

Queen of Sheba · Joined: 07 May 2006 Posts: 397

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

Is this rather like the idea "let he who is without sin cast the first stone" or some such thing... ?? Laughing

VS

Abba · Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 97 Location: UK

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

I'd re-read my post abba... Laughing

QoS already answered that one for you anyway...

VS

Queen of Sheba · Joined: 07 May 2006 Posts: 397

Q�s dictionary definition:
Cissy � Italian-American for cheesy, Farsi for 'anything,' Mongolian for 'bat skull soup,' and Bebsi for weak or powerless.

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

Queen of Sheba · Joined: 07 May 2006 Posts: 397

Some may say you are already facked. Shocked

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

only some?

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

QofS was trying to be kind... of course, it is 'all.' Cool

VS

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

I'm not playing anymore.

*dmb leaves the playground picking up his jumper that was the goalpost*

Abba · Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 97 Location: UK

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

Showing my ignorance here but why can't women drive in Saudi? I know it's against the law but what is the justification behind it?

Where in the Koran does it say "women can't drive"
A genuinely curious dmb

Bebsi · Joined: 07 Feb 2005 Posts: 958

Abba, I was being tongue-in-cheek about hiring fewer as opposed to less foreign drivers.

Cissy..sissy...who really gives a fack as we all get the message!! Well, maybe not...a cissy/sissy is not so much a weak, powerless person as an effeminate, wimpish one, e.g. "Argernon, being a sissy, was afraid to play football as he was afraid he would get his new pink lacy trousers all muddy".

And don't start asking "what's a wimp"? For that matter, please don't anyone think I was being anything other than tongue-in-cheek when I used the term "Cissy". OK, OK, don't ask either what "tongue-in'cheek" means, life is too short for that.

DMB, I once asked a Saudi policeman friend about women drivers. he said they know it's an inane rule, that seems to have developed in a highly macho desert society of the 1950s. I also heard a separate story that a royal kid was killed by a woman-driver and they decided women should be banned after that. I would be inclined to go with the policeman's theory, as I am not generally given to believing the stories of Saudi-stupidity-and-overreaction so beloved of westpats.

The policeman then continued that they want to change the law, but that there are certain fears: women would have to abandon the burkah (forgive me if spelt incorrectly) and would therefore be susceptible to lots of young guys playing chicken and generallly harrassing them; many women would refuse to remove the veil and would in themselves become a hazard n the road; and finally, many women would refuse to remove the veil for licence-photo purposes, and...well, you can imagine the rest. No one here really believes it is forbidden in the Koran for women to drive, with maybe a small number of rabid exceptions.

It's no jock being a woman driver in KSA!!