“Oh!” said the delighted receptionist, “Five children! You must be here for annual exams!”
No!” said the equally chirpy Mom (God knows how she maintained her sense of humor) “They are ALL sick!”
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
“Your mother is driving me crazy!” I heard a woman saying, I guessed she was on her phone to her husband, talking about her mother-in-law.
I was wrong. She was the grandmother, and she was talking to her the sick toddler she had with her. Mom had called and asked her to pick him up from daycare and take him to the doctor.
February 19, 2010
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Family Issues, Florida, Health Issues, Living Conditions, Relationships, Women's Issues, Work Related Issues |
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So all the way home, I am thinking “I have to be fair.”
It’s one thing to write a post when you are all hurt or annoyed by something, and then another to have to go back and give an update which is more . . . ummm. . .. . balanced.
The Qatteri Cat went back to the vet today for a re-check. He is fine. He didn’t want to go, and told me so all the way there.
The “mean” animal handler was there when I came in. She asked who was coming, and I told her, and she came over and called him a “sweetie,” and was genuinely nice to him, and caring.
When it came time to visit the vet, the QC stepped out of his cage all by himself, and behaved himself like a perfect gentleman. . . err, gentlecat.
I can tell you it is a lot harder to write a post about nothing happening and everyone being nice, than it is to write an emotional post. All the way home, I had to think about what I was going to write, and what came to me was that while I was making excuses for the Qatteri Cat being foul tempered (hungry, hurting, scared) I wasn’t making any allowances for the humans, who have to deal with sick, hungry, hurting, scared animals every day, who have to watch them suffer, and die, and who might be hungry, or tired, or in physical or emotional pain themselves. So . . . for all my own crabbiness, I apologize.
Today was a new day. QC is a well cat, and AdventureMan and I are still waiting for the magic phone call.
February 3, 2010
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Character, Charity, Civility, Community, Doha, ExPat Life, Family Issues, Interconnected, Living Conditions, Pets, Qatar, Qatteri Cat, Relationships, Work Related Issues |
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“Sir, do you have a minute?” she asked.
“Yeh, c’mon in,” replied AdventureMan, a little surprised that she closed the door as she came in.
“I think I know who you are,” she said. “I think you are AdventureMan.”
AdventureMan (who is calling me to tell me the story) tells me he didn’t bat an eye, but said “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“It sounded so familiar,” she said, “when you told me you had a little problem with the vet last week. I went back to the blog. I think your cat is the Qatteri Cat. So no, I don’t believe you don’t know what I am talking about.”
If you know AdventureMan, you will know he can’t keep a straight face for very long, and she handled the situation exactly right for busting him good. I am sure he started grinning, and once he starts grinning, he is totally lost.
Like one other really smart woman we know, she went back and explored the blog, reading through several entries until she was sure. Fully armed with all the information, she attacked. And won. Once you get him laughing, he can’t lie any longer. Well done! 🙂 You know who you are! 🙂
February 2, 2010
Posted by intlxpatr |
Adventure, Biography, Community, Cultural, Doha, ExPat Life, Friends & Friendship, Humor, Living Conditions, Qatar, Qatteri Cat, Work Related Issues |
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I have the most wonderful housekeeper who helps me out a couple days a week, and other occasions. She is a woman I greatly admire; she works hard to provide education for her children, and she is also a strong voice in her community, giving sound advice to younger women and organizing people for positive change.
Today I asked her if she had taken the bag I had made for her when she went home for a recent visit.
Here eyes gleamed.
‘Oh YES!’ she said, her smile so large it was like the sun rising over the Gulf. ‘It was the only thing I carried! And on my way home, I was waiting for my plane and the desk attendant approached me and asked where I was going. I said ‘Abu Dhabi and Doha’ and he asked if I minded if they upgraded me to Business Class’
We both danced for joy. Manila to Abu Dhabi in business class. Wooooo HOOOO! That’s a LONG flight.
‘Did you sleep?’ I asked.
‘At first, no, because I didn’t know how to operate the seats.’ she responded.
‘And then?’ I prompted
‘I figured it out,’ she grinned.
She thinks it was the bag I made for her. I think God just knew Grace needed a little grace. 🙂
January 23, 2010
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Adventure, Bureaucracy, Character, ExPat Life, Interconnected, Relationships, Travel, Work Related Issues |
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Qataris urged to cut reliance on maids
By Anwar El Shamy in today’s Gulf Times
A recent study has warned against the growing reliance on domestic helpers by national families, saying that demand on housemaids has reached “unprecedented levels”.
The ‘Qatari Family’ study prepared by the Permanent Population Committee, said that domestic helpers constituted 24% of the number of people living in Qatari families.
Figures quoted by the study showed that each family had 2.3 housemaids and servants.
“The demand for housemaids to take care of the domestic work and take care of children has increased in a way that made it impossible for families to do without them and that number of domestic workers can exceed the number of family members in several families,” the study added.
It also urged the citizens to cut reliance on housemaids, saying that childcare should be the responsibility of parents rather than domestic helpers.
“It is necessary that parents should be trained and educated through the institutions concerned on how to take care of their children without depending on domestic workers who will never be able to inculcate the society’s specific values, beliefs and traditions in them,” the study indicated.
The study estimated the average number of the Qatari family members to be 9.5 in 2008, from 8.6 in 1997. “Contrary to what happened in several countries where the size of families decreased, Qatari family size increased mainly due to the growing demand on domestic helpers with each family having an average of 2.3 domestic workers,” the study said.
According to the Qatar Statistics Authority, domestic helpers are included in the population census conducted by the Authority.
Without domestic helpers, the study put the national family’s average size at 7.3 persons, which the study said, was “still relatively high”.
About marriage levels, the study said that some 54.9% of males and 55.8% of females, aged above 15, among the Qatari citizens are married, which the study said, signified some sort of “marriage stability”.
It also warned against the growing rates of marriage between close relatives, which increased from 10.3 in 1997 to 23.7% of the total number of marriage contracts in 2007.
“Young people should be educated on the negative effects of the social phenomena like marriage between relatives, early marriage and divorce,” the study said.
On life expectancy at birth for the national family members, the study pointed out that the age has increased from 76 years in 2005 to 79.5 in 2007, which the study said, showed an improvement in life quality.
About the national families’ monthly income, the study put a majority of 71.6% of families in middle and above middle income group ranging from QR10,000 to 50,000 a month, while 27.2% were getting more than QR50,000 in 2007.
January 11, 2010
Posted by intlxpatr |
Community, Cultural, Doha, ExPat Life, Financial Issues, Living Conditions, Marriage, News, Statistics, Work Related Issues |
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From today’s Gulf Times
When I was new to Qatar, and thrilled to find my hometown Starbucks going great guns here, I asked “Where is the tip jar?”
Every Starbucks has a tip jar. Everywhere. Baristas don’t get paid that much; you always tip. Often they are young people stretching to pay the rent while they go to school, or trying to raise a child as a single parent. A tip is a way to allow God to redistribute income in the world; you let it go freely and He sends it where it should go.
The barista reached down and pulled out a jar, but did not look encouraging.
“Why is it down there?” I asked, naively.
“We don’t get these monies,” the barista said. “The Management takes everything.”
So I started asking at every Starbucks, and the answer was always the same. The workers don’t get the tips. Management takes everything.
Jesus said it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for rich people to get into heaven. When I hear stories about the workers not getting the tips, or workers being exploited, being treated as a resource or commodity rather than as partners in operations, I fear for the people who would take these monies out of their own greed. I fear for them in the afterlife. If we are not open handed, using our wealth to help others, maybe it will be our burden in the next life, and we will regret having to carry it around. Maybe it will be a barrier, and we can just peek over to see the life of the spirit we might have had. I fear for people who cannot overcome their greed, and share the wealth.
‘Hidden charges’ at restaurants slammed
By Sarmad Qazi
Irked by having to pay what they call “hidden charges”, some customers have expressed their displeasure at the increasing practice in restaurants of adding “service charges” to their final tab.
Patrons say they do not mind paying the extra so long as any additional charge is written visibly on the menus and the money actually goes to who it is originally charged for – the staff.
“The fact that my bill had a 10% service charge came as a surprise. The font size used on the menu to announce the charge was smaller than a bank’s fine print,” a customer of a fine dining restaurant said.
Debate on the subject is raging across the region. Just last week, the UAE outlawed the practice and warned restaurants and cafés to do away with the practice by February 1 or face fines ranging between Dh5,000 to Dh100,000. Exempted from the rule are restaurants located in hotels.
Service charge, often added to the final bill at dine-in and table-service restaurants (not applies on take-outs, home delivery), usually ranges from 5% to 20% depending upon the quality of the outlet. The practice is allowed at restaurants inside hotels but has caught up outside too.
Restaurants, however, yesterday defended the service charge and maintained the money went towards staff waiting tables and inside the kitchen.
“Various establishments use it for different purposes. We use it as a motivational factor for our staff,” said a senior official at a food and beverage company which manages some of the leading franchised restaurants in Qatar.
But customers also accused restaurants of pocketing the extra money rather than giving 100% to employees.
“If all of the service charge is not passed down to staff then restaurant use the money to cover breakages (glass, cutlery etc) by employees rather than managements increasing the cost of products (on the menu),” a general manager of an American franchised chain of restaurant said.
The practice is not restricted to branded restaurants only as some local fine dining restaurants in Qatar also take service charges. Most officials Gulf Times spoke to were not sure whether a prior Baladiya or Ministry of Business & Trade permission was taken before the charge was introduced.
Industry officials also dismissed suggestions that instead of a separate service charge they should increase the price of products as “impossible”.
“This can’t be done. Increase in prices will make the customer move to a competitor,” a restaurant official said.
“We do however waive the service charge if a customer insists or if they do not feel like they received the level of service they expected,” he added.
January 6, 2010
Posted by intlxpatr |
Bureaucracy, Character, Charity, Community, Customer Service, Doha, Eating Out, ExPat Life, Financial Issues, Interconnected, Lies, Living Conditions, Values, Work Related Issues |
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Community policing is necessary when we neglect to police ourselves. . . if, for example, we find ourselves throwing a tissue out of our car window as we drive along, littering the pristine streets of Doha. If we bully someone because we want that parking spot he is driving into, if we disrupt the peace and quality of life of others by our behavior.
I notice, in this story from the Gulf Times, that women are a part of this program, and that they are wearing uniforms, and hijab, and that those uniforms are very modest and also that they are wearing pants. Please see the previous article.
I commend Qatar for this visionary program, helping the community police itself, and for including women from the very first class.
46 take part in community policing basic course
Graduates with officials at the convocation ceremony
The Police Training Institute (PTI) recently held a ceremony to mark the graduation of participants in the first batch of the Community Policing Basic Course, under the auspices of Minister of State for Interior Affairs HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani.
Some 46 students from various security departments took part in the course, which lasted seven weeks, said a spokesperson.
The ceremony was attended by the chairman on the Central Municipal Council, HE Nasser al-Kaabi; director of the PTI, Brigadier Mohamed Hassan Youssef al-Saei as well as other ministry officials.
Brigadier al-Saei explained that the course has been conducted to “enhance the role and mechanisms of community policing,” as well as helping to create partnerships with various social institutions to help with national security.
The PTI director added that the graduates of this course will be able to translate the Ministry of Interior’s aims and strategies to encourage understanding between various communities and to help the police to be able to prevent crimes before they are committed.
Brigadier Rashid Shaheen al-Atheeque, chairman of the steering committee of community policing, said: “The graduation of the first course of community policing is one of the stages of qualifying the national cadres at the Ministry of Interior to work in the national project.”
“Qatar is currently witnessing progress in all aspects of development in economic and social fields – this increases the role of all sectors in the country to face all kinds of challenges brought with this development,” he said, adding: “These factors require the improvement of capabilities to keep pace with development.”
Brigadier al-Atheeq explained that the ministry had pursued the initiative of community policing to help reduce crime throughout all institutions, and said that they had pursued the objective with the co-operation of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs as well as other ministries and companies, working towards the National Vision 2030.
He explained that the concept will initially be employed in the North Security Department from April 2010, with plans to apply it across the board from 2011.
Representing the director of the Ummul Qura Independent School for Boys, teacher Areezah al-Yami described the noticeable benefits of introducing the community policing programme in the school over the past year.
January 4, 2010
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Bureaucracy, Character, Civility, Community, Cultural, Customer Service, Doha, Education, ExPat Life, Family Issues, Law and Order, Leadership, Living Conditions, Social Issues, Values, Work Related Issues |
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I almost missed this article, and I am glad I didn’t. This is what I love about reading newspapers in the Gulf, you find information in the most unexpected places.
So you are led to believe that the article is about an increase of injuries in the workplace. What it also contains is some fascinating information I’ve been wondering about – traffic injuries.
I have this unsubstantiated theory that the people who suffer the majority of traffic accidents would be the people who drive more recklessly, and have weaker driving skills – perhaps failing to signal? Perhaps failing to check their rear view mirrors before passing? Perhaps driving too fast for road conditions? I know, I know, go figure, I think the roads are a place for grown-ups, people who understand that by sharing the road peaceably, we all get where we want to go.
The nationality with the largest percentage of injuries are Qatteri @ 21%
The nationality of almost all of the work environment injuries are – no kidding – expatriate.
Almost 100% of the Qattari injuries are driving related. Driving related injuries account for 32% of the total injuries treated, road related + work related.
The second largest nationality with injuries is the Nepalese – 16% of the injuries. Almost all of their injuries, along with Indians – 14%, Egyptians – 7% and Pakistanis – 5% – are work related. 32% of those injuries are from falling from a height. The work related injuries, according to Dr. Raghad, are in proportion to the nationality proportion of the population.
So the question I ask is – If the nationality with the greatest percentage of injuries, 21%, also falls into one of the two highest catagories – road injuries – 32% of all injuries, and if these injuries are totally preventable – wouldn’t it make sense to enforce the existing traffic laws?
I don’t see a lot of Qatteri women driving, so I would hazard a guess that most of these injuries are young men. With Qatteri men already a minority of the population in Qatar, doesn’t it make sense to protect that priceless national resource with increased driving education, supervision, and strict traffic law enforcement?
More than 50pc of all injuries work-related
Web posted at: 12/29/2009 1:25:26
Source ::: The Peninsula
Dr Ahmad Al Shatti, Director of Occupational Health Department at Ministry of Health, Kuwait, gives a workshop at Supreme Council of Health yesterday.Shaival Dalal
DOHA: More than 50 percent of all injuries in Qatar are caused by work-related accidents. The most common among such incidents is falling from a height that causes 32 percent of the injuries, which is equal to the number of injuries caused by traffic accidents.
This was disclosed by officials of the Hamad Trauma Center at the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) at a workshop on occupational health held at the Supreme Council of Health (SCH) premises yesterday.
Road accidents and fall together cause 64 percent of the injuries- 32 percent each. The third largest victims are pedestrians- 11 percent. Six percent of the injuries are caused by a falling object that mostly hit people on a work site and equal number of cases are attributed to burns. Three per cent of the injuries are caused by accidents involving All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs).
Expatriate workers remain to be the biggest sufferers from injuries. However, nationality wise, the highest number of cases are reported among Qataris- 21 percent- most of whom were victims of road accidents.
Nepalese stood second, with 16 per cent of the injuries, followed by Indians- 14 per cent. The other two most affected nationalities are Egyptians (7 percent) and Pakistanis (five percent).
“Work- related accidents and injuries are the highest among Nepalese, because they are the single largest nationality being employed in the construction sector. Other nationalities are also affected proportionate to their numbers in the industry,” Dr Raghad, Injury Prevention Director at the Hamad Trauma Center told The Peninsula on the sidelines of the workshop.
The workshop attended by representatives from the Labour Department, HMC, Qatar Petroleum, RasGas, Ministry of Environment, Medical Commission, Qatar Airways, among other organisations discussed ways to improve the occupational health services in Qatar.
THE PENINSULA
Lest you think I have a think against male Qatteri drivers, I don’t. The older Qatteri male drivers are very gallant, very gentlemanly, on the roads. They have manners, and graciousness. From time to time, I also run across well mannered young Qatteri drivers. They use their turn signals. They wear seat belts. The allow other people to zipper-in. It breaks my heart, in Qatar, in Kuwait, that so many of their young men lose their lives on the roads, or suffer horrible injuries, injuries which take months, even years, from which to recover. What a tragic waste.
December 29, 2009
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Bureaucracy, Community, Doha, Education, ExPat Life, Family Issues, Health Issues, Kuwait, Law and Order, Living Conditions, Qatar, Random Musings, Safety, Social Issues, Statistics, Work Related Issues |
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As a reply to one of the comments on an earlier post about the Qatar National Day Fireworks Program, the crew that planned, organized and executed the fireworks display commented:
21 crew, 8 x 40 foot shipping containers of equipment, 2 weeks setup, 3 days of bloody rain, 17 pontoons over 3.2km, 1 island with 25 firing positions, kilometers of cable, countless hours of programming, 18 minutes of show, 4 days to pack it all back up and then fly home…great show, but exhausting! Very glad you enjoyed it!
Imagine! Imagine the work that goes into those 18 minutes. . . .
And I bet they are off soon to do New Year’s in some other fabulous location. Imagine, what a life that must be!
December 27, 2009
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Adventure, Arts & Handicrafts, Beauty, Cultural, Customer Service, Doha, Entertainment, Events, ExPat Life, Qatar, Technical Issue, Work Related Issues |
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First, you have to understand how quietly AdventureMan and I live. He works long hard hours. He gets home, we eat dinner. Most nights we watch some TV together, usually some season of a program we enjoy.
But after dinner last night, we decided to take a walk, instead. While our family in the states is braving out a variety of winter storms, the weather here has become – WONDERFUL! There is a hint of freshness in the morning and evening, and while days are warm, they are comfortable. We walked our compound, enjoying ourselves thoroughly, looking at all the Christmas decorations, and Eid decorations still up. It was a great walk.
Once we came home, we settled in – or so we thought. We were about 15 minutes into the newest season of Lost when our doorbell rang, and a group arrived to give us a very special caroling session. It was so much fun – and thank goodness, I had some cookies on hand to share with the people who came caroling! It was a delightful and moving evening.
We settled down once again, and once again the doorbell rang, neighbors coming to tell us some very good news, a miracle, really, something we had all prayed for, and that they were going home briefly, and would see us in a week or so. We had a wonderful visit with them, were able to send them off with joy.
We looked at each other and grinned. All this was so totally out of the ordinary for our usual week-day nights, but wonderfully out of the ordinary. We like it when things get shaken up a little bit. 🙂
December 23, 2009
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Christmas, Community, Doha, ExPat Life, Friends & Friendship, Living Conditions, Work Related Issues |
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Here There and Everywhere 