“Where You From?”
AdventureMan calls, full of chat, wanting to tell me what he is seeing at the airport. Normally, it’s a good time for a chat, but today, I’m having none of it.
“I just called the police again.” I told him.
(I can hear him thinking “Oh oh.”)
First I dialed the neighborhood police number, and nobody answered – again.
We have accidents in front of our house all the time. Sometimes I can see everyone with their phones out and I don’t call. This time, I called. No answer. I dialed 777. Thank God, they have WOMEN who answer, women who speak a little English, and I speak a little Arabic, and together we figure things out. They are smart, they are competent and they are sweetly polite, not officiously bureaucratic.
I tell her about the accident, tell her the neighborhood.
Two minutes later, my phone rings. He doesn’t speak English.
“Bolice?” I ask.
“Bolice” he affirms, and says my neighborhood.
I start telling him, in Arabic, the block, the street and the cross street. See? I’ve gotten so smart!
“Where you from?” he asks in amazement, and I can hear him grinning.
“I’m from (the neighborhood)” I answer.
He leaves the phone, and he is yelling and everyone is laughing in the background. Someone else comes.
“Where you from?” he asks. He just wants to hear me talk.
I tell him – in Arabic – the block, the street and tell him “CAR CRASH! TOO MUCH TRAFFIC. NEED BOLICE!” He is laughing. He calls someone else.
This guy speaks English.
“Car crash?” he asks.
“Yes!” I respond, glad to be on topic.
“Why you call me?” he asks.
(I didn’t call him. I called 777 {the emergency number here.} They called me!)
“Car crash.” I repeat. “Too many cars” (I say this in Arabic) Need BOLICE!”
He is laughing.
“Where you from?” he asks.
I say I am from the neighborhood.
“You in car?” he asks.
“No, I see from my house.”
“Come to station.” he says.
“No, BOLICE COME HERE!” I say, and tell him again the street, block and cross street – in Arabic.
He laughs and hangs up.
Forty five minutes later, traffic is still snarled up, no one is managing traffic, there are any number of near accidents as a result, and it is just a mess. No BOLICE.
For my non-Kuwaiti readers, the law in Kuwait is that when there is an accident, you cannot move your cars, not even out of the way, until the police have come. Until they come, everything stays as it is except for an ambulance can come and take away someone who is hurt.
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Here There and Everywhere 
I don’t know whether to laugh or be utterly mad about this, but I guess those ignorant unsophisticated MOI employees should be punished for their mistreatment of the situation.
Regarding that “Don’t Move” traffic law I think it’s only in Kuwait and it’s really stupid. When I rented a car on my last vacation I asked Europecar employee if I have to stay in my spot or move off traffic in case of an accident, she laughed and nodded “Of course you should move out of the way!”. It saddens me to know how outdated our traffic laws are. Hell, everything is outdated out here. 😐
No, Mac, it is the same in Qatar. There are many places where you can’t move cars until police arrive. It is rarely more than five minutes before the police arrive, in other countries. Today, here, it was fifty-five minutes, and traffic was snarled and people were snarling and doing very dangerous things to get around the wreck.
People just gathered, stood around and waited for the police. No one took responsibility for directing traffic, or setting up road flares to warn oncoming traffic. It was chaos, and there was a lot of anger around, and no one was doing anything to make it better.
You should stop calling, let things be, Bo don’t know diddley.
As annoying as this situation is, it’s even more ridiculous when a cop car is stupidly stuck in traffic because there’s no way for him to pass through.
And the police in Kuwait always drive with their flashing lights on, so you would not know when to move out of their way if they were on the way to a real accident.
lol the rule also goes for bahrain, i think its all gcc countries. but every1 moves out the way anyway in kuwait !!
w aham shay ga3d ygazroonha ?! khosh emergency ! :p
Apparently the “Bolice” have lots of free time! I find it rude… they way they called you back and talked just to laugh!! Shame on them!
That’s insanely irritating. Hmph. I don’t think I would’ve held out as long as you did haha.
LLOOLLL, Purg. As I sat there on the phone, trying to explain, I thought of you. I wondered if maybe you are only supposed to call the police if YOU are the one involved? But what if you are injured? The police often seem genuinely puzzled as to why I am calling about accidents.
And Bo may not know Diddley – but meanwhile, traffic in my neighborhood is bollixed until the police come and the accident can get out of the way. It is a nightmare.
GE&B – Yeh, but even if there is a shoulder to pull over on to let the cop car by, someone may be driving in it and WHACK you!
MisterIan – if they want you to stop or pull over, they have a megaphone in the car and they say “Bull Over!”
Duzn’t Play – sometimes there is nowhere to pull! Yesterday, people were driving over the sidewalks, entirely on the sidewalks, and delivery trucks – oh my God. What a nightmare.
Ansam, they didn’t mean to be rude; I think they didn’t understand why I was calling. It IS exasperating, but they aren’t mean or rude, just kind of like little boys.
Sp4rkster – Depends on your motivation, doesn’t it? I just wanted them to come straighten out the mess. You would not believe how big a mess can get in a short time.
Good morning Intlxpatr
Thats police brutality kuwaiti style
🙂 The police are always very kind to me, personally. One even looked at my very expired driving license and didn’t take it away from me, just warned me in a low voice to get a new one, quickly. I did. I just don’t understand why they think it is so funny when I call them to come for an accident (which I have learned to call a CRASH!) Good morning, Daggero! 🙂
Huh? Expired driver’s license! Shame 😛
I can’t believe those guys at 777 did that to you! That is real cause for concern 😦
And again…
I think you see exciting things from your window lol
Oh Jewaira, you are so right, shame on me. Sometimes I let things go. I shouldn’t but I do. 😦
Mostly I hear the accidents – a big thunk, with tinkling glass, or screeching brakes, and tinkling glass. I don’t always call, only if I can’t see anyone else calling.
Let traffic get clogged, someone will call and get there eventually, or you can start a fire next door, to get quicker response.
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