Wrong colour

I accompanied a friend in Dubai to the UAE/Oman border post at Hatta on a visa run, a lot of Brits do this so that they can extend their stay by a further 30 days without the need for a visa.

When we arrived on the Omani side and entered the border post it was 11.30 in the evening and the place was empty. My friend needed to complete a form for the entry stamp but had no writing instrument, he politely asked the official behind the glass screen if he could borrow a pen. A simple request one would think, but in this part of the world nothing is simple. The reply was a stubborn “NO!” followed by some jibber jabber mutterings in Arabic.

At the same time I muttered my own jibber jabber in the form of “F**k you d***head”, but I was wise to make it inaudible as I knew what was in store for me if the official heard my colourful comments.

So there we were waiting on the Omani side with no pen but in the presence of a rude official, clearly we had no alternative but to sit down play the waiting game. Some traveller was bound to turn up with a biro, but for the next 15 minutes there was none…..No soul to rescue us.

By this time the official had a change of heart, he muttered some more jibber jabber and handed over a biro. He had proved his point whatever it was, and we managed to complete the form and return back to UAE.

When I was back in the office I asked a colleague “why are the Arabs so arrogant?”, and gave the example of the Oman border crossing. His reply was “the Arabs are not arrogant, you are the wrong colour my friend”.