Nobody or no society is perfect. Be it any country or any society, including Saudi Arabia, there is always room from improvement. God knows we have many things to work on here. But that aside, it’s not all bad here. There are some excellent qualities to being a Saudi or even simply living in Saudi Arabia:
1) Clothes: When you’re about to go to work or study, you don’t have to think about what to wear. No more worrying if the tie goes with the shirt, or if the socks match the suit. You just put on one big piece of white cloth and you’re good to go! Not a lot of variety but it sure is comfortable and time saving.
2) Headdress: It originated from the need to protect one’s head and face from the sun and dust. It’s also an ancient Arab tradition to cover the head — in the good old days, going out bareheaded was like going out naked: Not only bad fashion, but humiliating and offensive. (It’s one reason why during Haj we must not wear anything on our heads: A sign of humility before God.) And that’s a good thing, because there’s no such thing as “bad hair day” here. The shimagh or ghutra have got you covered (literally). That’s why bald guys especially will love this part of our attire. No more discrimination!
3) Weather: In many countries, weather runs the gamut from cold to hot, dry to humid, super rainy to lightly drizzly, foggy to clear, with varying degrees. Nothing like that here. Our weather is remarkably binary, especially in the Central region: Either skull-melting hot, or bone-drilling cold. There’s nothing in between. And God, is it dry. The reason this can be good is that when we travel anywhere else, the weather can only be better.
4) Environment: Similarly, when all you see is either an arid desert or a humdrum line of buildings, any change is always welcome. Don’t be surprised to see a Saudi spending lots of money to visit a slightly less dry desert. To us, it’s a welcome change.
5) Shortcuts: I do not condone this one at all. It is objectionable, and I have never done these myself. Unfortunately, not a small number of (mostly young) Saudis do this. I do, however, imagine that shortcuts would save time if I were to join. What am I talking about? At times, you want to take a break from obeying so many rules and just…take shortcuts. Missed the U-turn? No problem. Simply put your car in reverse gear, while on the highway, and go backward. Distraction made you miss the exit? Same solution! It doesn’t matter if there’s a torrent of speeding cars behind you, “they’ll understand.” Because as far as a many young people are concerned, traffic laws are optional at best.
So there you have it. I’m a glass-half-full kind of a guy. It can be good living here. Just stay away from that last one, even if it does save time.
