Sheikhs Misbehavin'

I think I better understand now why Michael Jackson decided to re-locate to Bahrain a few years back. From all outside impressions, Michael lives in what I would refer to as a "bubble of unreality" - that is, he must feel that he doesn't need to be subject to the laws of man or nature, and once you enter the bubble you are in Michael's universe and only his wants and needs matter. The Gulf sheikhs (Bahrain, Qatar, UAE) have that same bubble, and like Mike, the bubble seems to be portable. Here's how some of our local bubble boys are using it:

Sheikh delays plane over seating
Fri Jul 27, 2:15 PM ET

MILAN (Reuters) - A Qatar sheikh held up a British Airways flight at Milan's Linate airport for nearly three hours after discovering three of his female relatives had been seated next to men they did not know.

When none of the other business class passengers agreed to swap seats, the sheikh, a member of Qatar's ruling family, went to the pilot, who had already started the engine, to complain, an airport official said. But the pilot ordered him and his traveling companions, the three women, two men, a cook and a servant, off the plane.

The London-bound flight took off nearly three hours behind schedule Thursday evening and around 50 of the 115 passengers missed connecting flights.
Traditions in the conservative Gulf Arab region bar women from mixing with unrelated men.

Well, that's embarrasing. I am guessing that their travel agents waited till the last minute and booked them a bunch of single seats in business class. Now, two points here. One, if you have never seen a BA business class seat, here is a top down view.

http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070118/070118_BA_hmed_1p.hmedium.jpg

It's a bit familiar even for Westerners, so I see where he was going with this one. Basically, if not for the flimsy divider you could throw you arm over the next guy and start upside down spooning.

The second point is that a traveler should know what the seats are like and goodness knows the sheikh probably does. After no one agreed to switch seats so they could sit together, the best play would have been to deplane everyone at that point and re-book on a flight where their need could be accomodated.

It's the going and complaining to the pilot bit that makes reality start to bend...what is the pilot going to reasonably do? Or did reason really have anything to do with it? I guess not, just an example of the bubble at work.

Too Many Camels Putting Strain on Desert Vegetation
Published: Wednesday, 25 July, 2007, 01:03 AM Doha Time

CAMEL may have been the best friend of Arabs but too many of them now are putting a strain on the sparse desert vegetation....Qatar is home to over tens of thousands of camels, a number many times more than the desert can support....This is detrimental to the natural vegetation of the desert...When there were too many dromedaries, they would tend to eat the entire plant, leading to its eventual death, the environmentalist pointed out.... Unlike goats, the camels could not be kept in captivity. If confined, they become depressed and ill.....In the past, only rich Qataris could afford to have a camel or two. ...And they were kept for a purpose. They were good for transport, their milk was used for drinking and clothes were made out of their fur....But today, most Qataris could afford camels....Some keep hundreds of camels....“I know of a man who has 5,000 to 6,000 camels,” the environmentalist said....

“Today, these camels are being kept for no useful purpose except racing. These people just bring the animals without any aim, and let them roam in the desert. They are merely status symbols”.

Basically, in order to keep up with the Al-Joneses, the locals are buying camels from all over the world so they can have more and/or faster dromedaries. They don't have a place to put them however, so it's cool for the camels to just wander the desert. Which would set up a conversation like:

Sheikh 1: "So...how many camels do you own?"
Sheikh 2: (proudly)"I own 1,045 camels as of yesterday."
Sheikh 1: "Wow, so where are all these camels?"
Sheikh 2: "Uh...I don't know."


When they aren't snapping up camels to release to the wild, they are popping wheelies in your neighborhood...witness the following article from a local paper....

Rash driving a part of motor sport for some youngsters

Doha • Some youngsters think that the screeching of cars on the road, racing and indulging in dangerous driving are part of motor sport and the government should actually allocate specific areas where one can pursue the "hobby".

In remarks to Al Sharq, a number of youngsters expressed unhappiness at the way the Department of Traffic and Patrol Police was cracking down on violators and seizing their cars.

It was clear from their anger that the Department was succeeding to a large extent in tracking down young motorists who were risking lives in pursuing what they thought was a sport.

These are the youngsters whose cars were seized by the traffic police after they were found indulging in rash driving.

"Look at the swarming number of seized vehicles in the scrap yard in Abu Hamour (near the M E S Indian School)," an angered youngster told the daily. There is no more space over there. The vehicles are spilling out of the yard, giving the locality a bad look, he said.

"We take our cars outside Doha and do our thing in open space, but the traffic police chase us and seize our vehicles. This is unjustifiable."

Another youngster said that this (seizing a car) was a very rude way of penalising a motorist. According to him, his vehicle was parked in a lot and yet it was taken away by the traffic police and dumped in the yard.

"We don't know where to go to pursue our hobby. In other GCC countries, they have designated areas where one can drive, race and indulge ourselves freely," he said.
Yet another youngster said that he knew someone whose three cars were seized by the traffic police after he was caught racing.

"It seems the traffic department has nothing else to do than chase and catch us," he said sarcastically. "Do they think they will be able to check road accidents this way?"

But there was one youngster who was happy with the action of the traffic authorities and said the move was proving a deterrent.

"Many youngsters are now scared of going out on the road for racing or screeching their tyres," he said. A passenger car is for transport and not for racing and risking lives, he added.

So, at least not all the teens are crazy. But it seems to many of the young sheikhs, driving like a maniac is considered a sporting good time and all in fun. They are also famous for driving 4-wheelers around at all hours of the day and even on local public roads. I have personally seen at least ten times the sight of Qatari teens driving a 4-wheeler on a busy street without a helmet - and usually they were standing on the bike! Having spent some time driving a real car around their fathers, I cannot describe how dangerous this is.

I just hope their bubbles have airbags.