Today I decided to visit my cousins in Abu Dhabi as I had not seen them for a many weeks. The excitement of a trip to the neighbouring emirate and seeing “me brethren” engulfled me as I got up early to have a shower, sprayed the finest eau de toilette that I have in my collection and donned the best “Junaid Jamshed designer” shalwar kameez. It was Friday, it was me day off, I was going to see me brethren and I wanted to look jolly dapper. I was oozing with “shtyle”, and the designer goatee was the icing on the cake.
I took a taxi to Al Ghubaiba Bus Station to catch the coach service to Abu Dhabi, after purchasing my ticket for AED 20 I was shocked to see the queue for boarding the coach. There were around 300, yes THREE HUNDRED single men or “bachelors” as they are categorised in UAE were forming an orderly line which snaked its way through the vast open space of the bus station. There was no shelter, only the intense heat of the summer sun beaming down and cooking everyone. Within minutes of standing in this dangerous heat and high levels of humidity my bodies own internal cooling system kicked in and sweat was literally pouring to cool me down.
As I waited around 30 minutes until finally boarding the coach, I noticed that the rule in the UAE is that men queue in the sun but ladies & couples are fast-tracked straight to the coach. No waiting, no sun shine beating on your back, it’s like having a “Monopoly” pass GO card.
At that point in time, a moment of creativity hit me…..well I’d like to put it down to inspiration rather than early symptoms of heat stroke. What if I had a life size doll possibly a mannequin dressed in an abaya would this allow me to join the ladies & family queue and save myself from being roasted in the 40 plus summer heat? This would even allow me to bypass the bachelor on the beach rule, and if the mannequin could float in the sea I would no longer need a swimming aid!
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