Good morning dear brothers and sisters. It has been a whilesince I last wrote an article in my prestigious Kuwait Times daily. In thisarticle I would like to talk about diaries written by an old American friend ofmine named John. I have known him since I was in the United States in the1980s, and I invited him to visit Kuwait and become acquainted with itstraditions and culture.
John was very excited to have been given this invitation tovisit Kuwait, a country he had always dreamt of seeing closely and getting toknow about its vast development, especially after the liberation. As soon asJohn arrived at the airport, he began questioning me about things he believedwere wrong on a journey to a country labeled in olden times as the Pearl of theGulf.
The first thing John noticed at the airport was badtreatment of a foreigner at the passport counter by an officer. That officerwas yelling at the foreign tourist, telling him to queue in the right lane,when that tourist didn’t know that in the first place. John asked me how canthis happen right at the entrance of a country, as this place is supposed to bethe first gate for a tourist to see for himself what comes next.
The next stage started right after we exited the airport’sgate heading to the parking lot, when he noticed many cars parked inhandicapped spots without an official handicapped sticker, and saw healthy andfit people walking out of their cars and leaving those in need of those parkingspaces stranded and having to wait till the fit b*****ds return and vacate thespaces. He asked me whether the fine imposed on these irresponsible persons issevere enough to deter them, but I told him it is only KD 50. He began shakinghis head and said it is considered a crime in the US if a fit person occupies ahandicapped person’s specified spot.
After that we rode the car to the hotel, when John noticedthe reckless driving and flashing of high beams of light on other cars. Heasked me why everyone is in a hurry. Why do they drive manically? Why do theyflash their high beams? Why do they drive on the shoulder of the road? Why dothey drive fast? Why are they impatient? Questions I could not answer and keptquiet.
Before reaching the hotel John asked me if we could stop ata cooperative society to buy some groceries. Right after we left the store, henoticed some cars were blocking other cars, while the drivers of the blockedcars were waiting for those maniacs to come and remove their cars. I again keptquiet. Later, John noticed many cars parked on the pavement and on the greenlandscaping, and asked me why do they do this? Why do they ruin these nicesceneries and destroy the infrastructure? Don’t they pay taxes to the country?I said no, there are no taxes imposed on services here and that is why they areirresponsible.
The next day we went to The Avenues mall, where John noticedsome families dining at a restaurant where their maids are kept away from themon other tables, while others were deprived of meals and were watching the kidsplaying. He asked me why don’t their maids sit with the families at the sametable to eat? Why are they kept away from them? I said there are many familieswho do this, yes, but there are many other families who treat their workerslike members of the family.
John’s one-week-trip was filled with bad memories and keptme silent most of the time.