A Saudi in America is often easy to identify even before he gets out of his car. It’s the license plate.
Saudis in America love the personalized license plate, a service offered in the US where you can customize your plates for a fee. A Saudi might put “Sam 9” on his car in America, referring to Sami Al-Jaber, one of Hilal’s popular players. (That says more about the driver of a car than, say, “GZB-198.”)
The customized license plate is a perfect example of the kind of relationship American governmental organizations, such as the US tag agency that issues car papers and tags, have with the citizens.
In America a citizen is not just a citizen, but also a client and customer. And the services offered — not to mention the general treatment of citizens by officials on the other side of the counter — is a reflection of this relationship.
When Saudis go to the United States they get excited over the concept of choice because they have very limited choices back home. They’re used to being told what to do rather than being provided a series of options.
It’s not just about license plates, of course. In Saudi Arabia, many documents provided by the government not only lack options for the citizen, but they’re also sloppy. Documents look like they were cobbled together willy-nilly.
Take for example driver’s licenses and registration papers. These documents are often rife with errors and typos, carelessly hand scribbled; a rush job from a careless bureaucrat.
The documents themselves vary in color, size and general looks depending on where in the country the paperwork was done.
What the government needs in terms of its relationship with its citizenry are a corporate identity and a national standard — not to mention more empowerment of its people through the concept of choice.
