Job Discussion Forums

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

Well, one must only consider another who thinks that "King Abdullah Rocks!" has got insight that only a blind person would have.

Ahem, eyes wide shut, hands over ears and repeatedly saying "La-la-la-la" to drown out the sounds of reality.

NCTBA

[Asda]

Come ON NCTBA, who else can pull off wearing white shoes with white socks?!?

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

The joker I've got in my sights! ... ...

NCTBA

[scot47]

KSA is difficult. Get a bad employer and it doubly difficult. The ranks of EFL are filled with eccentrics, crazies and downright weirdoes.

Is it surprising that things like this happen ? No ! Will they continue to happen ? Yes. Will these newbies listen to our words of wisdom ? No.

[Arabian Hawk]

[lazycomputerkids]

[lazycomputerkids]

[johnslat]

Dear lazycomputerkids,

"John, and what evidence of the experience do you have? A rant."

You lost me here. What other evidence could I have? Are you suggesting that the post is pure fiction? If not, then whatever the "experience" was is, I'd say, irrelevant - the "outrage" certainly sounded real (and credible.)

So, I repeat that I feel sorry for anyone who's undergone any experience capable of causing such a reaction. It's not for me to judge whether the outrage is commensurate with the experience.

Regards,
John

[lazycomputerkids]

[johnslat]

Dear lazycomputerkids,

As a previous posting of mine mentioned (or at least implied), I think the OP's post was a inaccurate generalization based on personal experience.

Personally, I don't think it's fiction; it has the ring of credibility to me. I also think that the opinion of Saudis expressed is mean-spirited, unjustified and inaccurate. All that is based on my experience there, but then, to contradict an all-inclusive generalization, all one needs is personal experience to the contrary.

None of that, however, stops me from feeling some sympathy for the OP. Some of us (perhaps not you, lazycomputerkids) have gone ahead, despite others advising against it, and gotten ourselves into situations that turned out to be very traumatic. I knew a lot of kids (I mean eighteen and nineteen year olds - I was twenty-three at the time) who enlisted in the Marine Corps for the "thrill and adventure" of going to Vietnam back in the mid-60s. The tremendous gap between what they thought they were getting into and the reality itself did considerable damage to many. Were those kids at best foolhardy and at worst foolish? Sure. Did they deserve what happened to them? Some might say "Yes,", but I don't think so. Is it misguided for me to feel sorry for what happened? Again, I don't believe it is.
Now I am NOT suggesting that the OP's experience was comparable in terms of intensity to that of the kids in my example. However, I see a parallel there, and so, while I wouldn't call the OP's experience a tragedy, neither would I regard it as a comedy.

Regards,
John

[lazycomputerkids]

[johnslat]

Dear lazycomuterkids,

I don't see any way either of us can "prove" our opinions: yours, the probability that the "rant" is phony; mine that it's likely real.

So, moving on - nihilism (as in "my nihilism") is a rather broad term. Would you mind defining what yours entails? Or would it be "naturalism?" Maybe we do "deserve" nothing since deserving implies some outside force that rewards the "good" and punishes the "bad." However, I must admit that I like seeing people get what I think they "deserve" - both good and bad.

"I spent two years in an alley with a Vietnam vet, a drill sergeant, and would bet a $5 day's worth of cans your appeal would not be without dissent."

Now this puzzles me - "my appeal" - what appeal is that? I don't recall appealing (though those who know me would surely say that I AM appealing.) And while I can appreciate how spending two years in an alley with a Vietnam vet could be interesting and perhaps even enlightening (and you know he/she was a Vietnam vet how?), I'm not sure who would "dissent"(you, the vet, both?) and what would be "dissented to."
Moreover, one dissent wouldn't make anything I've written baseless. Just as everyone has his/her own, private Saudi Arabia, every vet I've known has his/her own private Vietnam.

Regards,
John

[lazycomputerkids]

[johnslat]

Dear LCK,

"We do seem to enjoy our contentions."

A good contention is hard to find; you mostly get the other kind.

"I offered the poster's equating the forum to their treatment. You've offered a phrase. I'm not saying my support is conclusive, but it's not merely a persuasive qualification."

We both agree, I think, in that we both believe the OP's opinion of Saudi, of EFL in Saudi, and of this forum to be mistaken. Again, since nothing can be proven about the truth or fiction of the post, I'll move on.

"Mocking the content of a post does not imply I feel the poster deserves anything."

Well, it would seem to imply (or even mean) that you feel the poster deserves to be mocked.


"Substitute "appeal" for reasoning." Or should I substitute "reasoning" for "appeal?"

"And I gambled the vet I knew would have considered your paralleling any experience in Vietnam to that post as a stretch."

You DID notice the BIG "NOT," right? I don't see why any Vietnam vet would consider my calling them "parallel" a stretch. I made it quire clear that there could be NO comparison in terms of intensity. What I paralleled
were the circumstances - i.e. getting into something without knowing what was really going to be involved.

"Now I am NOT suggesting that the OP's experience was comparable in terms of intensity to that of the kids in my example. However, I see a parallel there, and so, while I wouldn't call the OP's experience a tragedy, neither would I regard it as a comedy."

Regards,
John

[Asda]

ENOUGH ALREADY!! CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?!? FOR THE CHILDREN!!!