MADINAH, 25 August 2006 — Police here are looking for a 16-year-old newly wedded bride who climbed down the drain pipes of a hospital and ran away, the Al-Watan daily reported yesterday. The teen took advantage of the fact that her 65-year-old husband was admitted to the hospital for undisclosed problems. The teen’s family married her off without even allowing her to see her husband until the wedding day. Bewildered by the fact that her husband was older than her grandfather, the bride was in a conundrum about what to do. She had no intention of spending the rest of her life entertaining the old. So she chose instead to run away from a family that completely ignored her right to accept or decline marriage proposals, which is her right as a woman regardless of the need of the family to approve of any wanton groom she accepts.
Son Sent to Learn Value of Hard Work in Saudi Arabia
MADINAH, 25 August 2006 — An Indian grocer working here raised suspicions among his peers and his boss because he didn’t act poor, the Okaz daily reported yesterday. In fact, he had discriminating tastes in the food he ate and the erudite disposition of an educated youth — not to mention his expensive watch, fashionable clothes, and high-thread-count Egyptian cotton bed linens. It turns out that the young man had been sent by his wealthy father to work in the Kingdom like the other plebeians. The man wanted to teach his ne’er do well wastrel son the value of hard work and promised to welcome his son back once he used some elbow grease and gained some experience working as hard as the typical Saudi guest worker.
Flirting Doesn’t Pay Cab Driver’s Bills
QATIF, 25 August 2006 — A group of young Saudi ladies used their feminine wiles to shaft an elderly and illiterate Asian cab driver out of taxi fare, the Al-Madinah newspaper reported yesterday. The women hired the driver to chauffeur them around town, all the while they were laughing and sweet-talking the old man. When they reached their final destination, a mall, the ladies handed the old man a note and told him they would go to a cash machine and come back with the money. They, of course, never returned. Unable to read the note, the old man requested help from a passer by, who read to him the following: “Hey baby, are you waiting for your money? Sorry, we paid you with our smiles.”
Unemployed Saudis Dot Com
TAIF, 25 August 2006 — Unemployed Saudis have created their own non-profit web venture — an online chat forum for the jobless, the daily Al-Madinah reported yesterday. The man starting the website said he expected to receive lots of participants and hopes that it would get the attention of government officials. He said that the website will reflect the sadness and frustration many unemployed Saudis feel.
