I had an “intro to management” class last Monday…during the first 45 minutes..It was a smooth and peaceful lecture, about multiculturalism and diversity in organizations….
Anyway…during the class, a guy said: “…for example, in the gulf, or gulf people have this pride and the feeling that they are above all the Arabs..” and the whole class agreed and they all started talking about their personal experience (my ass)that proves the statement: “yeah..they lived in a desert and suddenly got rich and now they think they own us…”, “I know a guy who went there and found some people who know nothing about anything and they’re holding important job positions at the same time”….etc. I don’t know but I just got tired of this attitude…
“Smallah 3alayna na7na”…
The same words we always hear…”bedouins”, “arrogant”,”desert”…etc. Have these fellows watched the latest elections in Bahrain? they were all computerized while we still have people looking up names in the papers…did these fellows try to get a family Kaid -or whatever the name is- (إخراج قيد) ? how many times did they get the correct one from the first time? They have oil, what do you we have (other than debts)? Tourism ?! we should thank *them* for that and it’s gone because of the war and what followed it (although I don’t believe that we had it aslan)… They are arrogant?! They are extremely rich and they just buy people and waste money on anything? Ohh excuse me…we don’t have this kind of people??? Remind me again who is the person who is known by the phrase: “بيتديًّن ليتزيُّن” ????
I’m not defending them…I’ve never been to that area to judge…and I’ve never dealt with anyone from that area…so I don’t know if that’s true or not and I don’t even care…and even it it was true….at least they have *something* to brag about!!! and we have our stupid *things* we follow blindly (does Hayfa count??).
I noticed this in Lebanon…we tend to bring down the others to look good instead of wasting the same efforts on US in order to improve.
Again, I’m not defending anyone here..but “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.“
Note: Only one guy actually replied to what I said in class and said: “We have the resistance!”. You’re right my friend but not all of our (great)people agree that it’s a resistance or even Lebanese!
Another Note: I’m not attacking Lebanon, I’m a proud Lebanese but I hate the state we reached and the way we think now!
14 Comments
Hey! U’re apsolutely right!Layal i have been there and i know, they have a very nice country everything is up to date with the latest technologies.But the Most important thing they assure you is security where u can live ur best life,in a country where no one can even touch you,u live in peace and then ur mind is only concentrating on ur future,ur job and how to become a better person.not to spend all our lives trying just to understand which politician is right and which one is wrong. anyway i think they r better than us of course,and thats why all lebanese youth struggle to get out of lebanon so soon and go fetch for a job in the GULF copuntries.so plz stop contradicting urselves.
Thnx, Monah
ahla w sahla 7’ayye Monah 🙂 ma3layna 3ajabak el folder?!?!
mm Just one comment, how can you trust elections conducted with computers…
I mean is it an open source where we can see what logic it uses, or perhaps who it allows/disallows…
I say the same comment to the american or any country in the world who uses god knows what software to control elections…
I’d like to say that i’m not favouring any nation over the other, and i dont have any sense of belonging at all…
I was born in one of the “gulf” contries… I agree “in principle” with some layal’s comments…
Yet, let me remind all that tec is not a measure of advancement…
Look at thier education, how they treate women, how they treate thier people, thier ‘democratic’ social contexts, thier economy, on top of all thier “civilization” I put that in two brackets cuz there dont have one…
The only place on earth with no history at all, (as it’s a desert, geographically) no civilization, at all is that area…
OIl was discovered but they didn’t biuld anything at all, I mean look those guys might be good traidors, but never thinkers…
Oh one more thing….
In the current global market, everyone is in debt…Even the “oily” countries…
About the computerized-elections thing: I was just trying to prove that they don’t live in tents anymore…and to trust it or not it’s not my point…And about that prticular election in Bahrain: the voting was not computerized(usual paper in the box thing) but checking the names from “lawa2e7 elshateb” (don’t know the english term) was computerized..(I know it can’t be trusted either…but the manual way has security problems too)
I’m not saying that they are better than us or we are better than them…but I hate this way of thinking while we have problems too..severe problems…and the solution won’t be found/applied if we kept doing this…We won’t improve by making all of the people around us look bad based on *some* problems we might share…
Again, I’m not defending them…and since you were born there…ofcourse you know better about the customs …good or bad I don’t care…hope you got my point..I was not trying to make them look good or better…I wanted to show that we have problems too and that we sometimes share what we are accusing them of.
Thanks for your comment!
On your second comment: True w ana ma3ak b kel she elto..bas fetna b mawdou3 tene heik 🙂 you borrow to do or improve something…hon awlak heik 3am beseer (or 7atta honeek)?
Have a good day 😉
Allah ma3ek ya kbire…. well loulou… u really make a good point… we (the lebanese) do nothing but live on debts… wo 3a r2yek… tdayyan la tetzayan… I’m really proud to be a lebnese… a resistant.. especialy a southern lebanese… but let’s face the fact…peopel are improving thereselves while we are still fighting over some stupid politicians…. WAKE UP LEBANON… STOP DREAMING PEOPLE.. DO SOMETHING OUT OF URSELVES!!!!
sorry i forgot to tell u that it’s me rania (renno).. missed u ya loulou 🙁 🙁
wleee…you have no idea how much I miss you…Sunday girl..Sunday 😀
I as Egyptian suffered from Discrimination in one of the Gulf countries, though it is still far better than the inter discrimination in Egypt between the powerful and the powerless.
Thanks for pointing out this view.
it is our old ego my dear layal ,the old ego of countries that have great past like Egypt,Lebanon,Syria always has this issue
you know in my class it was the post case , it was the professor who saw the Gulf as still not as great as the majority thinks ,already he lived there and saw the mentality ,he is right in one thing in a city in Dubai we can’t see it is like Europe because the people of Dubai didn’t build it by themselves nor they operate it by themselves completely
he spoke in more logic way depending on a table of society development away from the old 7000 b.c civilization complex,i still have it that table ,I will search for it and scan coz it was great
about Bahrain well Bahrain is most civilized and open country in the gulf due to the fact it was the first oil state in the region in 1930s
perhaps my first comment was a reply on “monah” more than yours…
It seems that because of what lebanon is going through now, people are looking at the longly “stabalized” countries with envy, neglecting that such stabalization is due to various differences in social structures…
I get your point “nights”, no comments as I dont live in lebanon…
Lastly, well it’s not quite like a borrowing system, it’s a capital system, and in the gulf, I cant see any improvement in where improvements should be, take education for instance, medicine…
Anyhow I got attracted by the title of the post, enjoy…
Well you are free to comment on whatever you like 🙂
And again I’m with all what you said…but we here use the points I mentioned to attack that area…if we use what you said such as education, women’s rights, society…etc kenet skatet 🙂
bas the problem I wanted to point out is that we neglect these things and focus on other problems that we too have…
Thanks again for your comment 🙂
Monah, your reflection of that place is so idealistic and dreamy, such as that of a person who didn’t live there long enough to uncover or witness everything….
Trying to understand which politician is right and which is wrong, or wait, trying to understand WHATEVER is right and wrong… that’s something…
A choice to live with those things they put on the horses heads to cover their eyes on a race, or to live, or try to live with a free mind and vision that wants to understand things rather than just walking by..
Gotta agree with what shadi said…
Anyway layal, don’t let some people’s points of view get to you, there’s always someone or a group of people who share your same thoughts and beliefs and also who will never disappoint you (well almost never :P)