Personal experience is one of the best sources for a newspaper column. And this is one of mine. It shows very clearly some of the common, everyday problems faced by all women in Saudi Arabia whether educated or uneducated, Saudi or non-Saudi, Muslim or non-Muslim. These particular problems are rooted in Saudi customs, traditions and also in the Saudi tendency to see the worst in everything.
As a working woman I have to travel each day from where I live with my family to the offices of Arab News and back again; I do so by using my family’s driver. I emphasize that he is the driver for all the family.
The experience I am writing about is this: Our driver had a minor accident in which he was thankfully not injured. The car, however, needed repairs and so was out of service for a few days. What options were then open to me as a result of suddenly finding myself car-less? Well, here they are:
1. Ask somebody for a lift
2. Rent a car
3. Use a taxi
4. Resign temporarily until the car has been repaired!
Which of these options would you choose? Before answering, I ask you to remember where I am and what I am allowed — and not allowed — to do.
Option 1 might go to work for a day or two with someone whose schedule is similar to mine. But remember: Not only do I have to get from home to the office but I also have to get from the office to home. Getting a lift from someone soon becomes inconvenient, even if she is your best friend. After all, you are using her car and her driver!
Option 2 is not really possible for me since as a woman, I cannot drive. And even if I wanted to rent a car and have the driver drive, suppose the accident happened at the end of the month when the budget does not allow for extra expenses?
Option 3 is unfortunately out of the question. Technically women are not comfortable to ride in taxis alone. Another problem is that for many women, being alone with a taxi driver is not a situation they want to find themselves in especially if they live far from their work, that means a long drive. Not that they or the driver are going to misbehave but because society looks with scorn and condescension at a woman traveling in a taxi by herself.
If you think I have overlooked public transportation, I can only say that as it is understood in other countries, it simply does not exist here. There are buses but their schedules and routes are never clear and the bottom line is that they cannot be depended on. Even on those buses, women have to ride in a small compartment at the rear. It is not even a question of “Go to the back of the bus” since there is a special door at the back for women.
Option 4. Now we are talking! My plan now is to ask the powers that be to introduce this for women who are temporarily without either car or driver. And in the same law, there should be something about a special system of transport and deliver groceries and other necessities we might need while stranded. There are plenty of those women and they have to get around just like anybody else. Such a system would be very useful for many Saudi women.
Part of the law of course should be aimed at employers who have women employees. In emergencies and special situations — such as the one I found myself in — employers should have to provide a car and driver for their female employees. Or better still, employers should help women working from home by special delivery services to their houses. That of course includes all the additional costs of buying PCs and required equipment.
Of course, we Saudis talk and talk and write and write about this problem but to no purpose. The sad truth is that nothing really takes away the feeling that I am helpless for such a pointless reason.
