I'll Go Straight Up George Banks on Your Ass!

I’ll go straight up George Banks on your Ass! 
Current mood: pissy 
Category: Blogging

(That was a toss out to "Father of the Bride" – If you haven't seen it, DO)

I'm not a mean-spirited person, nor do I go looking to stir up trouble.. But excess hormones can really tip you over the edge @ times.. I don't know why, but it seems as if there's this huge paradox that envelopes this place. For friendly service I'd rate Kuwait a 10, but as far as common sense practices and other small things of seemingly insignificant nature (that you'd expect to not be a problem in most places), I'm afraid they rate pretty damn poorly..


Example: Today after leaving Baroue, me and the kids were tired and thirsty from all the running around they did. There's a nice smoothie shop called D'Lush right adjacent to Baroue so I stopped in there to get us a little slushy treat..


I ordered two drinks, one for me and the other I intended to split between the kids because their "small" is actually a good sized medium.. I asked the cashier if she could split one of the drinks into two small cups and she told me she couldn't. I figured maybe she didn't understand me correctly and I asked her again, "You mean, you can't give me an extra cup? I mean, I'll do it myself..". She says, "No maam, it's against store policy.". I understand an employee not wanting to go against the boss but c'mon – you see I have two small children here and it's just one cup! Use some common sense! Make a judgment call..


I told her that it was a pretty stupid store policy and then she quickly set to work making the drinks. Luckily I had two sippy cups with straws with me. They had some really thick mango juice in them still but I went over to the counter with all the straws and napkins and began cleaning them out.. In this process I used half the napkins and I made very sure to be as obnoxious as I could about it – doing it in plain view of the woman.


She handed over the two drinks and I uncarefully split one between the sippy cups.. After handing those to the kids I used the rest of the napkins to clean up the sundries counter. I turned back to her and told her "If you had just given me the extra cup I wouldn't have had to use all these napkins up.. You see I have two kids here – You could have helped me out.. This is the LAST time I ever come to this shop..". And with that her jaw dropped and the kids and I happily slurped our way to the car..


In retrospect, this seems pretty darn bitchy – maybe even uncalled for but what can I say? Moments like these are few and far between for me but sometimes, something really tiny is all it takes.. I usually try and keep in mind that these people, the civil workers here, get treated like crap by Kuwaitis 24/7 so I don't try and give a hard time when it isn't due.


Something I've noticed though is like, if I'm dealing with a Filipino worker (like today) – they're more by-the-book and less likely to accommodate smaller needs you may have. Every Lebanese waiter/cashier I've ever dealt with has been super nice and flexible.. If I need something done for my kids (ex; get a plain chicken breast instead of the breaded kind on the kids menus – which they can't have), there's no argument - (btw, Lebanese people seem CRAZY about kids – the kids constantly get freebies and sweets when we go out to eat and have a Lebanese waiter – Tatum also shamelessly flirts with them).


I realize this probably sounds incredibly racist but it isn't meant to – it's just the facts of life over here.. This also probably sounds pretty weird but most of the "social" civil workers (ie; foodservice & retail) are either Lebanese or Filipino.. I don't know why, it's just how it is. I also think that Lebanese folks get paid considerably more than the rest because they're actually Arabs.. Every one else gets paid pretty poorly.. (I think "minimum wage" here is 50KD = $185.. A *month*)


The manual labor force is primarily made up of Indians, Pakistanis, Egyptians, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankans.. Of course there are exceptions to every generalization and I'm not saying EVERY Indian or Filipinos is a poor and/or undereducated worker.. I have friends of all these nationalities and I can tell you there are intelligent successful people from all heritages/corners of the world.. But still, in Kuwait, if you aren't Arab or Western you're pretty much treated like a third-class citizen.. It's pretty darn depressing..


Anyway, well, that went off on a tangent but I guess I just wanted to explain a little bit how the system works over here.. I really do try and keep my temper under wraps by remembering how incredibly hard some of these people have it.. @ the same time I also expect discretion depending on the circumstance and a little common sense.. If I was at home I wouldn't put up with the same crap but at the time it'd be worth my while to speak my mind there because I know that someone who's trying to sell something will do everything in their power to keep a good customer spending money..


Oh well. I guess it's just that sense of "wrong" and "right" that I really miss and that's what sparks my rants.. We've got it pretty good @ home.. I just hope everyone realizes that.. In closing, pray for the next person that pisses me off.. I don't see an end to my sporadic grouchiness anytime soon..