This morning I needed to use the internet to look up some information. Since there is no internet in the hotel, I needed to find an internet café nearby. Apparently, in Sharjah, internet is not important until late in the day, if you know what I mean, so there’s no reason for most internet cafés to be open at 9am.
Any how, there were some things that I could get done without internet. I went to the bank to open an account. I walked into the Emirates bank and told the guy who gives out numbers that I wanted to open a Current account. He had questions for me to determine if I were a worthy customer. First, how old I am? Second, do I have an Iqama? Third, do I have 5,000 AED to deposit immediately?…Hmmm, I wonder why banks in the Middle East are very selective about their customers. In North America, I was told, banks are so horny for customers to open accounts with them that some banks would entice you by depositing 50 bucks in your newly opened account.
Maybe banks in the Middle East aren’t as cost effective as North American banks?
So after determining that I’m a worthy customer he let me in to see a banker, only to be told that their system is down! Normally, this would be enough for me to ditch this bank and look for another one, but the way it works is that if I needed my money today or within a few days, I had to open the account with Emirates bank. It’s just the way I made the check in Riyadh…
I asked the banker if other branches had a working system. She said “yeah, we have lots of branches.” Irrelevant answer, but I said: “great, can I have directions to the nearest one with a working system?” She said: “I’m not from here. Ask someone else.” I should mention that this conversation took place without her making eye contact with me even once. Anyway, I got directions to the other branch and my experience in it wasn’t as bad, except that they needed things that I didn’t have, like my P.O box.
So, I went to subscribe to postal service with Emirates Post. I can’t say the Emirati nationals working there seemed excited about me bringing my business to them. To the contrary, they seemed kinda dismayed, so they tried to get rid of me by asking me to do some crazy stuff. In addition to requiring a copy of my passport and two pictures, they wanted me to fill out the application with a typewriter! I’d guess if they really wanted people’s business they would have a photocopy machine, a booth for taking pictures and a typewriter in the office.
In the end, however, things weren’t so bad with them. I think after the clerk noticed my Khaleeji accent he decided to be a little lenient and said that if my handwriting was “pretty,” I could fill out the application longhand. I smilingly assured him that my handwriting is very pretty and he not need to worry. Once I got my stuff together and went back to the post office, the Emirati clerks’ attitude with me changed noticeably. One guy asked me how I was doing and complained to me about having a rough day with the customers, pointing to line made-up of Asian workers. Opposite to my real impression of him, I expressed fake sympathy. But it’s hard to despise someone who’s friendly to you, even if you know he has racist dispositions.
I had read earlier about racism in UAE but I didn’t get to get a taste of it first hand until today. Now, I’m Saudi, but I don’t look like it and I don’t wear national dress. So I do get a feel of how Egyptians, Syrians and other non-GCC expatriates are treated; at least until I’m found out to be Saudi. I’m not gonna lie about it: I enjoy watching as people change their attitude toward me after they find out my nationality. That happened to me in the bank and in the post office. Judging people solely based on their nationality is wrong, but does that mean I would rather be treated like other expats? Obviously not…Do I wish that all people were treated respectfully? Of course…Do I, then, still want to be singled out and treated with even more respect? Why not…Human relations in a complicated thing…
Anyway, another funny incident happened to me today when I stopped at a cell phone store to buy charge cards while my photos were being developed. After buying the charge cards for my cell-phone subscription, I asked the Egyptian worker if they had calling cards to Saudi Arabia like those sold in the United States (and probably the rest of the world). He didn’t know what I was talking about, so I explained to him that in the United States, you buy a card and punch in the numbers and you get cheaper rates. He answered me in an Egyptian smart-ass kind of way saying “that’s called commercial fraud.” I said WHAT? I actually got mad at him for insulting one of my core values and beliefs in free-market and exploiting efficient technology. But I contained myself realizing that he’s just a primitive fellow that didn’t know what he was talking about…
I didn’t expect opening a bank account to take all morning, but I’m glad that it’s done and now I have my money available to me…
