Life in a Northern Emirate

A young Citizen (shebab in Arabic) called me one night to invite me to meet the Ruler of the Emirate. He sounded very excited, and said he would pick me up promptly at 9:00 a.m. On the day in question, I didn't have to be at work until 11:00 a.m., so I was free at 9:00 a.m., and thought it might be a good idea to meet the Ruler.

At 10:00 a.m., the Citizen had still not arrived, so I called. I could hear that he was in a coffee shop with some friends. 'Sir, the Sheikh said he could not meet with us before noon.' 'I told you I have to be at work at 11.' 'Sir, if you miss work because you see Sheikh, no one can say anything. Sheikh is owner of business.' 'I have to be at work at 11.' 'It is up to you sir, but you should meet Sheikh.'

This Citizen had taken me to one of the Ruling Family's palaces before. A servant gave us each a cup of Arabic coffe. It appears that any male Citizen can go at any time to any palace belonging to a male member of the Ruling Family and get a free cup of coffee. (I think the female Citizen's can go to any palace belonging to a female member of the Ruling Family, but I don't have any first-hand knowledge of this.)

The cups are very small, and the members of the ruling family have the financial resources to give every citizen free cups of coffee. The resident of the palace, one of the Ruler's brothers, was just leaving as we arrived.

As best I can tell, all the men in the Ruling Ramily know every single Citizen by name. Of course, this isn't as hard as it sounds, since almost every male Citizen is named Ahmed or Mohammed. And even if that's not their first name, it's their second or third name.

So I decided I'd better straggle into work rather than going to the Sheikh's Palace for a free cup of Arabic coffee.