Everytime I come back from Canada I find it harder to re-adjust to living here in Muscat.
People here are so rude. Soooooooooo rude. I don't understand where it all comes from. What is this sense of entitlement? What is this get the fuck out of my way attitude?
The last few weeks have been brutal to be honest.
Incident by incident-
1. In my car, stopped at a stop sign (as one is SUPPOSED to) turning left onto a street with a somewhat unclear view of oncoming traffic, which I know from experience that people drive very fast down the road (even though it's a residential neighbourhood, which means that there might be children chasing balls running into the road and you should go slowly), so I'm checking things out and making sure that no cars are coming and that I can go when then guy behind me starts beeping in a mad fury.
I wasn't stopped very long, just long enough to make sure the road was clear, you know to ensure MY personal safety (and I suppose any other cars) when entering the road.
2.Same street only going a different way, I was about to make a right turn when I saw a man crossing the street on his bicycle. I stopped to let him finish crossing and the man behind me started honking at me. Since I drive a small car and the beeper was in a Pajero, I'm sure he could see that there was a man in the road and that I wasn't stopping my car...for what? fun? practice? No I stopped my car because I don't think I would enjoy killing someone. Especially with my car, which I enjoy very much. Afterall, then I'd have to get it fixed which could take awhile, and I'd probably feel really bad about killing someone with it, so I'd have to sell it and I don't think I'd be able to sell it without admitting that the car was actually a murder weapon, if in fact I wasn't in jail for running the man over. Not sure how that all works to be honest....don't you just have to pay money if you run someone over?
Then, after I made my turn Mr. Pajero sped past me on a 2 lane road, under construction, with oncoming traffic, in a residential neighbourhood.
3. Driving along again in a residential (ok it's all been in my neighbourhood, I have shitty neighbours) I slowed down to drive over a speed bump and there was a car behind me which followed me over the bump, and then jerked out from behind me sped past me and turned down a road maybe 100 M away. Is that really necessary?
Just so we're all clear I do not drive through my neighbourhood at 20 km/h, but at 50 which is a safe speed, I think for a neighbourhood.
4. I was waiting in line at TSC to have my 1 bag of veggies weighed when a woman barged in front of me to have her things weighed first.
5. Walking across the parking lot at Al Fair and a car just kept driving towards me, slowly mind you, but why take chances? What if I had tripped and/or fallen?
6. Shopping for earings at Aldo Accessories in QCC...ugh I smiled at the girl working there, since she didn't bother to say hello and I thought I'd be friendly (I do have the ability sometimes) and she blanked me. Nice. Same deal when being cashed out at Carrefour, I smiled at the girl and got nothing. I said thankyou when she gave me my receipt and change, and again, nothing. What's the deal?
I can't for the life of me understand all this rudeness, and am convinced that one day, someone will honk at me for stopping to let a little old lady cross the road in front of my car, and I will get out and have a shouting match, for which the police will be called and Cush will have to pay someone money because I had the guts to stand up for myself and not be bullied by all these assholes who are in such a rush that they can't just wait 10-15 seconds.
No wonder so many people here die on the roads...
Got some rest...now for the back story.
17 hours ago
20 comments:
Welcome Back, and Right On! I can't understand the sort of Jekyl and Hyde busines that goes on when a mild mannered dude gets behind the wheel of a car here. Maybe there is something in the water? It annoys me too.
I like to put the truck in reverse and roll back a few inches just to scare them. You want to be an asshole, cool, I can be one too.
Ahhh... tell me about it. In my brain I invented the latest car gadget .. a large screen that appears on the back of your car where you can type messages to the person driving behind you...
Like ... "F*** off. I'm not switching lanes for you".
Why not? There's so MUCH I'd like to say to people driving behind me. The honkers, the flashers, the swearers. I'll contact Honda.
Exactly. Nice to have you back! :)
B and I were talking about it just the other day, saying it had got worse over the years. B's theory is that the advent of all these new dual carriageways has led everyone to feel they should be getting there (where ever it may be) faster. When it doesn't happen, frustration steps in and bad behaviour results. I would say that I have had to stamp on my brakes more than once in recent weeks either due to some idiotic manouver in front of me, or someone doing an impersonation of a trailer behind me.
Good to see you back again :)
I've often thought about having a paintball gun on hand for the more annoying drivers out there.
Is it me or is it a general trend?
If you drive a Lexus, your a twat, or at least drive like one? This is a 100% hit ratio if the lexus is over 8 years old.
There is also the petrified men of Asian decent (usually) tootling along at 70 in the middle lane in a miracle that is otherwise known as a 25 year old Toyota corolla...
Paintball gun, and Nadia's rear-window piss off screen.... anyone know where I can get a paintball gun in town?!
I hate it when they start honking as soon as the light changes while you are waiting and you are already moving. As if you had a chance to even react any faster. Like at the same time you are moving, they are honking. One day I just got angry and through a horn fit. I stomped on my breaks and honked about 6 times, then continued on my way.
I don't understand some people...it is here in Doha as well.
Sorry. I was kidnapped by aliens.
The probe made me do it.
Still like the 'throw it into reverse' suggestion...
The smiling thing - you need to be more theatrical to get a response... I find if they blank me at first I smile even harder and they are then too embarrassed to ignore me - plus with the culture thing they're kind of programmed to respond when pushed! And if you can get 'em to smile...RESULT!
huahuahua
shopping at Zara must be a kind of obligation because when you pay the bill they don't say thank you, they don't even look at you, just take your money and sometimes I feel that they will almost say: GET OUT OF HERE!
Seriously, don't want to go all zen on you guys, but honestly, just don't let it bother you. Don't. Full-stop. I realized that the only person who is remotely bothered by all this, who gets all riled-up and mad is yours truly, and all those ppl around you causing you all this grief don't even know u exist, so what's the point of getting all upset? Again, not to go all guru on u: you are the owner of your emotions and your reactions. So control them, not the other way around.
Coming from India, I don't feel too bad about ill-mannered drivers but I totally agree with you on the cashiers and saleschicks in these stores. They all look at you like they're doing you a favour. Al Fair guys are nice. So too TSC. Lulu, HnM, Next, and the like are ALL rude. But like previous anon said, the best way is to not let it bother you.
This is just a random reply to ur blog in general of being angry in oman, not a reply to this post as such -
Being an Indian in oman since my diaper days and then going to India, I guess kids here have absolutely no street-smartness at all. We don't understand what people might think, their underlying intentions, etc...Growing up here with everything provided to us makes us super dumb and unrealistic. Atleast in my case. Whats worse is we live here all our life and very few expats interact socially with locals.....So we are still the same like we would have been growing up in India- in our lifestyle and accents. It's like this complex feeling of unrest of not belonging anywhere. You, your parents and your grandparents and all your relatives have been in Oman and yet aren't Omani citizens. But they're settled here succumbing to the Omanization, yet so settled to the silent Oman life that they aren't going to get back to India anytime soon. But you're this kid who's just seen the liveliness of India. Even if you're alone in your house, the birds chirping outside, the street vendors, a neighbour's singing class, the overpopulation with life spilling everywhere. You're never alone and life is so stressed and keeps going. But here in Oman, you grow up an Indian school, where everyone leaves to India or USA or UK or the far east for studies. Very few stay back in Oman (I should say I pity them) and then when you come back to Oman for a vacation (its fine for a month or so) but if you're back here to work or for a longer period post graduation, you feel like killing yourself. You've lived here all your life yet you don't have any friends in Oman coz now your school mates have moved, you don't exactly meet too many young people of your kind here. Work is work. You may or may not get friends. Its' frustrating. Thats exactly what I call Angry in Oman.
Being 20 something and hardly meeting another 20 something in oman and every single friend you're talking to is in another country, life in Oman is not real at all. I feel like these mountains you see everywhere are just cutting us away from the rest of the world. There is no life here.
I think Oman needs more population. I don't mean the big multi-wifed-several-childrened omani families- Oman needs to open their country to other cultures and people. Its too early to close the door and call it Omanization. Neither are the locals qualified enough or are cultured enough to take this country too far.
With so much of beauty and natural resources why is it that the first thing people in other parts of the world didn't know about Oman is that it exists?!
And the people's attitude, having said that my socializing was limited to my Indian schooling and Indian family friends,I ve never been exposed to the locals or other expats here. I always thought Omanis are kind &generous people.My first exposure to locals came during work and I was appalled at how many mundane things were categorized "haram"! They are kind btw, but I don't think the locals like expats much and the fact that we make money here, which is fair enough, but culturally they really need to get some more broader sense. Okay, their religion is none of our business. Most of all, for their own good, need to get a sense of nutrition!! I don't know if you've seen the way people always order their breakfast and lunch at work, I am appalled at their lack of a proper cuisine. They do have a couple of "omani" dishes but I mean a proper set of eating lifestyle is hardly seen with my colleagues. And then why complain of being fat and not practice yoga coz it's "haram".
And driving!! Getting a license is such a fuss, yet the accident rates here are so high. And the instructors are another fuss. And the people, especially girls, at billing counters, elevators and some at work, - I feel like asking them- I love your make up. Did you use a brush or just dip in?. I do wear make up too but I don't make a mask out of it and I wear a smile first before wearing clothes or make up. I m just a fresh grad so I don't like over-dress at work. I don't see why I should dress like a pro-woman but not know much. I m semi formal in my Indian wear and I notice ppl acknowledged me only if I had some background value. Like if they came to know who my parents are or such. Going by my semi formal Indian wear, I sure don't look like a very important person. And I don't intend to either. I think all these people are living artificial lives.
And after nearly 2 decades of calling this place my home and loving this place, I am proud to be Indian, of my country and its people. Im proud that we re intelligent,our cultures, history and more. Every moment of disgust in Oman I am proud of being Indian.
So what if this place is clean, has cheap fuel, and good roads. This isn't life. There is no life here at all.
Allow me to premise my comments with this: i respect all opinions, especially those opinions formed on a basis that is far from generalization and stereotyping. Having said this, there are a couple of comments left by Anonymous here that i just could not pass up:
“Oman needs to open their country to other cultures and people. Its too early to close the door and call it Omanization. Neither are the locals qualified enough or are cultured enough to take this country too far.”
Do a little homework, study up on local, regional and international history, and you will find that Oman “opened up” to other cultures and peoples hundreds of years ago, hence the amalgam of different ethnicities and backgrounds in the Omani gene pool. Secondly, where do you get this theory of “closing the door”? Because from where i’m standing only menial jobs have been Omanized, very few high-level jobs have been closed to expats by Omanization, and the ones that are are mostly “puppet” positions with the authority and real say held by an expat who remains behind the puppet. Thirdly, on the qualification front, we believe in “slow and steady” and eventually we will get to the point where we come as close to perfect Omanization as possible. And fourthly, on Omanis not being “cultured enough”- let me tell you that i won’t dignify that with a response, especially based on your self-proclaimed limited interaction with Omani and the local culture, and i quote “... having said that my socializing was limited to my Indian schooling and Indian family friends,I ve never been exposed to the locals or other expats here.”
*deep breath...* ignorance REALLY bothers me!
“Every moment of disgust in Oman I am proud of being Indian. … So what if this place is clean, has cheap fuel, and good roads. This isn't life. There is no life here at all.”
The answer is simple, go back to India, especially as you are living such intense “moment[s] of disgust”. I very much doubt that there’s a gun to your head, forcing you to stay. Enough with the whingeing and whining and just GO.
I don't see myself as one of the "go home if you don't like it" brigade, but to the most recent anonymous commenter March 20, 2010 7:38 PM, you clearly don't like it here... you have stated that life here is not a proper life - so why are you here?!
You should move to save your sanity!
Ah, I'm tempted to agree with Muscat360...
Anon, if you are filled with disgust, then just GO HOME! And I am very happy here with the clean roads, cheap fuel, and the good roads.. I'm not happy with people like YOU!
I can understand AIO's frustration, but you... I guess it's your time to go elsewhere..
Yes, I agee, people can be rude.
But don't tell me these things don't happen in other countries ??
I have met both extremes on the road: people who would honk and swear if you didn't accelerate when the light went yellow! and people who would give way and would give you space even when they know that you made a mistake and it's nor their duty to help you.
Same goes for cashiers: there are the dark ones that would regret smiling at them, and there are the ones that will smile at you and throw a joke here n there =)
all in all: this happens everywhere ....
"Neither are the locals qualified enough or are cultured enough to take this country too far.”
wow.. as an Omani I must say that is pretty harsh! I won't honour that the whole reply with a comment, but Anon is entitled to his own opinions..
AIO.. that is frustrating(the car thing I mean)! I'm kind of a new driver (only had my license for about half a year) so I haven't experienced any tear-your-hair-out situations yet, but I'm sure I will!! but isn't that the case everywhere?? and let me tell you I have traveled to alot of places (including England in which I lived for a few years) and rude people seem to exist everywhere...
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