Yes, I have not traveled much
Posted By: blackswan on 2008-11-16
In Reply to: That's the best you can do! It is very educational, entertaining and enjoyable,,nm - abc
and am looking forward to six months on the road/sea and in the air!
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You've obviously never traveled abroad.
What a sad attitude you have. If that's the kind of mental stink-face you show when you're out in public, no wonder others don't show you any respect.
I was shown a tremendous amount of respect and understanding when I traveled, and that included Europe, the Pacific Rim, and the Middle East. Nobody ever asked me to 'bend over backwards' to accommodate them.
To the contrary, they invited me to participate in family meals and special events if I felt like it, and respected my decision not to be included with anything I was not comfortable with.
And, besides Ramadan, when Muslims fast and we were asked not to eat, drink, or smoke in public, there were very few restrictions to our personal freedoms. And, during Ramadan, our hotel had special daytime food services for us Westerners, so if anyone was bending over backwards, it was most certainly them!
And, trust me, most Saudi business owners have spent EXTENSIVE time in the West, many going to school here, and they are well aware of Western business and social customs.
You're not being asked to be a harem girl for goodness sake! You're being asked to perform a highly-skilled, and respected job as an MT.
Except for a few small restaurants and shops, most places I saw spoke English and even had signs and directions in English. (Yes, by custom a woman will be entertained in a separate area of a restaurant than, say, the single men or the men with families. Guess what. In Australia, they have 'ladies bar' at the pub, and women were definitely not welcome in the 'mens bar.' So should we lump them in with Muslims, which you seem to have absolutely no regard for?
I found that Saudi business were a lot more friendly that many U.S. firms I've been to. There's more of a custom of 'getting-to-know-you' (I hope you like coffee, lol) than here, where we're just numbers in a ledger and keisters in seats.
I'd really like to know what you base your opinion on, since it's obviously you've never traveled anywhere besides your own backyard.
And you 'must insist that they respect' you? With your attitude? Not in a million years.
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