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cmp45 · Joined: 17 Aug 2004 Posts: 1475 Location: KSA

As an western or 'other' expatriate it is unlikley one will ever beable to change the social fabric of Saudi society. You get to observe; that is about it.
Just wondering...has anyone ever made a suggestion to a Saudi driver or 'anyone' to buckle up their children? or refrain from throwing litter the street? or from gobbing / snorting on the street?
As a collective, it seems many such practices are deemed acceptable or 'turned a blind eye' to.

Never Ceased To Be Amazed · Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 8:57 am Post subject:

saudi is saudi. They have a right to do things their own way in their own sandbox. Oh, sure, we can stand back and criticize, but it comes down to two choices: You either grit yer teeth and continue, or, in my case, one of the two buckets gets filled to the brim and you take a walk.

Sadly, my BS bucket filled the first, but the money bucket had gained quite a heft by the time it had...

NCTBA

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

I came here as a hired hand, not as a missionary.

Teachers here would do well to reflect on this. In the classical world and in the Muslim world, which is one of its joint heirs, the teacher was traditionally a role for a slave. A slave does not advise his master on how to behave.

Never Ceased To Be Amazed · Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 11:20 am Post subject:

I think that we all agree here...we may not appreciate many of the social aspects, but in one's own sandbox...one calls the rules.

And, yes, cmp45, I constantly call upon my students to protect their children better...they just smile sweetly back. Like I said in another post, if one believes that all is in the hands of the Almighty...personal responsibility takes the back seat...

NCTBA

The Lathe of Heaven · Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 11:45 am Post subject:

But if you don't tie your camels, they will wonder off.

TLOH

cmp45 · Joined: 17 Aug 2004 Posts: 1475 Location: KSA

On the street, I certainly bite my tongue as not much one can do...but in the classroom, I do my best to educate or at the very least put the thought in their heads, if for just an hour...for example, when it comes to littering: When I see garbage strewn round the classroom, I ask the students if they do the same in their own home...of course they laugh and I laugh with them and say, "Nooooo, you wouldn't, becuz your mama and papa would slap up the side of your head!"

I make them pick up the garbage and of course when they don't do as I ask, I start picking it up infront of them and this embrasses "some of them" into helping...tomorrow it is the same and so I repeat the song and dance again and again. I don't care if they don't like it. I have never had any student complain to administration, "...the teacher made me pick up the trash on the classroom floor!" Smile

Tough love; mixed with humor can make some of these kids think a bit ...at least in the classroom. As I tell them, "I can not control what you do outside the class, but I can dam well control what you do inside the classroom." They know it is the right thing to do, but some are just too proud/lazy to bend over and pick up trash that they think is reserved for lowly servants...in this case the teacher Very Happy

As for driving, I at least remind them to buckle up...and don't speed that's about all one can do...for driving tips Rolling Eyes

They think I am a funny teacher...and provide them with plenty to laugh about.

johnslat · Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 12:55 pm Post subject:

Hey, it takes TIME (and considerable "brainwashing") to change the behavior of a society for the better.
You young whippersnappers may not recall the US of the 50s, early 60s, when we used to litter with abandon here. Got an empty can? Just roll down the car window and toss it out. Ma fi mushkila.
Seat belts? Hey, it took DECADES to get the majority of drivers to "buckle up," and today there are still a considerable number of non-compliers.

Regards,
John

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

I was thinking the same thing John. Neither of those really started to change rapidly until there were laws with significant fines.

Part of the littering problem is cultural... the idea that anything outside the family sphere doesn't matter. In the past, the family trash was just tossed over the compound wall or into the street.

In the Emirates in the mid-90s they had started an advertising campaign about children in cars... pushing the idea of not using your children as an airbag. It doesn't take much of an accident to deploy those bags and it will kill a child... in your arms.

Have they done anything like that in Saudi.

VS

007 · Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 2:59 pm Post subject:

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

There was a campaign on seat belts a few years. police put up road blocks and told everyone to use the seat belt. After a few months they lost interest in that.

Authorities seem reluctant to enforce safety measures. If you were a Saudi cop, would you tell some Saudi driver who may be the brother of someone important to be a good boy ?

Grendal · Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 12:29 am Post subject:

What? Saudis and driving together in one sentence? Now that's an oxymoron with an emphasis on moron.

What about Saudi parking?

Basically, they stop in the middle of an interestion or the center lane of a road and call it parking, all the while their car is running while they meander into the store or whatever it is they stopped for.

Upon returning they back up and turn the car around to go the wrong way on a one way.

I wish sometimes there were traffic police around but they are all either busy sleeping or praying five times a day.

Grendal