Job Discussion Forums

[sheikh radlinrol]

I hardly ever saw any of these characters in KSA and they left me alone. Any posters with different experiences?
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/13/saudi-arabia-says-religious-police-must-be-gentle-and-humane

[scot47]

They never affected me. In my early years in Tabuk when they were doing their rounds at prayer time they urged me to stay in the coffee-shop while they were ushering my unfortunate Palestinian and Egyptian colleagues to the Mosque. I rather liked them. Clearly they had spotted me as a "Khawaja" and a Christian gentleman !

1970 was a different world !

[MixtecaMike]

Never saw them in Jubail, I think they were all too busy chasing gay bartenders around Qatif

[izmigari]

ar-riyadh crawls widdem!

[cnthaiksarok]

Riyadh / circa 99'

I was standing outside Al Orubah plaza having a smoke with a couple of students.

A large, very angry looking muttawa approached and said,
"You cut the hair!"

My reply was, "parlez vous francais?"

At that moment my student said out of this corner of his mouth:
"He knows you're our English teacher."

I then turned back to him and said, "I'm sorry, what?...excuse me."

He repeated (pointing)..."You cut hair!" He was working himself into a proper tantrum.

I said, "Ok, ok...bukra inshallah." (tomorrow by God's will)

He liked that, smiled and waddled off.

---

There were three long hairs (on the party scene) that I knew of in those days. Myself, another American and a German.

Occasionally, the three of us would happen to be at the same compound shindig and it was a bit of a sight, I suppose. We all had long flowing hair that reached our waists.

Some time went by and I bumped into the German who had had a haircut and when I asked him why he told me this:

I got my brother a family visit visa and one day we were at the mall. When we got back to the car a muttawa and 2 policemen were waiting for us. They took us and put us in a cell for 8 hours with no contact. Finally they took us out and brought us to a room with many officers. They sat us down at a desk and said, "you were at the mall wearing perfume and you have an earring with long hair. We know you're gay and were looking for action."

We were baffled. And were indeed looking for action, but from the opposite sex.

"You have two choices. Stay here or we cut your hair right now and you go home."

A month or more later, I saw the merkin and told him the German's story. He listened with intent and when I finished said that almost the exact same thing had happened to him.

I said, "yeah, but you've still got your hair."

That's right, he quipped. When it came time for me to decide, I walked back in the cell and slammed it shut.

[RedLightning]

Never had a problem in Riyadh, but I've heard stories.

[cnthaiksarok]

In the above time frame (again) there were 5 teachers sharing a large (3-story) villa in the heart of Sulimaniya district. (off-compound)

We had a "bulldog" at the front door in the guise of "Biff." A hard-core, megaphone-voiced, 60-something, dark, grumbly, Oregonian. I think he was retired from the Navy. You look at him and 'lumberjack' comes instantly to mind. His bedroom was right by the front door and he spent most of his off-hours playing nintendo while putting away a full bottle of the horror stuff whilst chain-smoking....errr....smoke and all the while grumbling, grunting and snorting at whatever sounds might've reached him from the outside.

The rest of us "pissants" (as Biff would refer to us) were a tad out of control and not really smart enough to realize the amount of fire we could be playing with by hosting parties, having girls over, brewing, etc..etc.

Looking back, it's not that we weren't the brightest bulbs - we were downright moronic idiots.

At any rate, one night my gal, a villa mate, his gal and myself got it into our grainy heads, "fook all this nonsensical rules and such. Let's go down the street and eat out proper."

And we set off. Not two blocks later we were spotted by two respected members of the billy-goat brigade (as Biff referred to them when he wasn't calling them the mustafa) across the street and they hiked up their skirts and made chase.

We split 4-ways and as I recall I was last to arrive at the villa, having watched from afar as the two fillies entered. Just as I was opening the door, I heard a shout and looked as the two (sandal speeding) men approached. I slammed the door shut, ran inside the actual front door and banged on Biff's door while passing "Biff! the mustafa are here!" "What!?....why I'll....$#%&*(

I kept moving up two flights of stairs and made the roof to watch from above.

Biff burst out of the house and lunged at them, cursing.

"Get the f$%# outta here! YOU %$@(* I'll ^%$#

The terror in their eyes as they beheld this monstrosity of venom was enough to make them turn tail ass and run like I've never seen a thobed one run before.

In anticipation, I waited for a week for that incriminating phone call to our boss that would surely seal our fates, but...it never came.

[In the heat of the moment]

I never saw (or didn't recognise) any in Khobar, Dammam or Tabuk. In Riyadh I was just leaving a Subway, brushing the crumbs off of my shirt, when a mutawa pulled up in his truck and used his loud hailer to scatter a group of youths - they fled pretty quickly. He then got out and started to approach me, as soon as he'd realised I was a foreigner he was all smiles and went in to get his lunch.

[2buckets]

A little off topic but I thought this was perceptive and funny.

I was teaching a maths class and the problem was: you 11 meters of fabric to make a thob, (dishdasha, kandura). One thob needs 3 meters. How many complete thobs can you make. Most answered 3. But one bright student said:"no teacher, 4. 3 for us and one for a muttawa."

The students laughed riotously.