OK, so there's a lot of angry people in the world, most of which let it out in healthy doses (a fist to the desk/wall/nearest inanimate object) or deal with it in some way. I don't particularly count myself as being an angry person (that's not to say I haven't had the odd outburst)
However, since moving to the United Arab Emirates, I've noticed a new part of myself, a part that's laid dormant until this country nurtured it into existence. This part of me is commonly known as Road Rage.
I'm not a great driver by any stretch, but I like to think of myself as a safe driver. However the drivers out here are, for the absence of a more suitable phrase, Idiots. I find it difficult for anyone without experience in driving in a country similar to the UAE, were the drivers don't care because they have the money/connections to sort out any mishaps easily, or don't care because there "if others don't why should I" attitude., to understand what its like.
Most morning in my drive to work I encounter at least one accident, sometimes up to 7, some of which can quite easily be called major accidents and can extend my 40 mins drive into a 2 hour epic of stopping and starting.
I put this down to 2 things mainly: Vanity and Impatience. 2 qualities apparent in many aspects of the Country itself, or at least most of its residents.
The roads themselves are an amazing feat of engineering, design by clever people to always have enough lanes and enough options to minimalise the amount of traffic jams and accidents (disregarding the constant construction work which screams the words "piss up in a brewery"). Yet jams do happen and accidents are a constant worry.
This is hardly surprising when the motorists themselves are disobeying the driving laws without a moments thought and weaving in and out of each other, aggressively merging to get those precious few seconds ahead of a person they have never spoken to or seen before.
Thankfully my driving time is to be diced into a quarter of the time it currently is. I this will raise my life expectancy by 350% and lower my blood pressure until my sugar and fat diet catches up with me.
PS There are good things about this country too, otherwise I wouldn't stay here. :o)
Well, what to say as an introduction to this. Very basically I had a few people following my antics as an Ex-Pat in the UAE on Facebook, but grew quickly weary of it. Plus Facebook is just an annoyance in many ways anyway (why do I want to know who's a fan of what, or which Hollyoaks character is most like a primary school chum who I've not spoke to physically in 14 years)
I also hope it'll improve my writing skills, maybe you'll get a random rant about life the universe and everything, a review of the latest film/TV I've watched or a small bit of random fiction. Maybe a phrase of the day or something a bit more thoughtful/thought provoking. Hopefully I'll be able to recount the main points of the day (or at least what’s interesting). Whatever it is, I hope some people enjoy it. And if not...oh well....at least I killed some time (that I probably don’t have anyway)
Here’s the start at least
Sooty
Posts
