The Americanization of Dubai
I have heard people complaining about Dubai becoming overly Occidental, people who have travelled thousands of kilometres, hoping to see something impossibly exotic, people who have never before seen anything impossibly exotic, and who have no idea what that entails, but who are disappointed by Dubai.
Today, in my irregular constitutional, I first saw a syringe and needle. I have seen diabetic syringes in the West, as a result of the iatrogenic diabetes epidemic, but this was an intravenous syringe and needle, which I have never seen on a Western pavement.
Later, I saw a coin.
Before I came to the UAE, I had seen many coins dropped by Westerners. Farthings, dropped after paying 19s 11¾d for some item; later, new ha'pennies dropped after paying anything and ½p. And, of course, €0.01 coins and American pennies.
For my first years here, I never saw a coin abandoned, but now ¼ dirhams and ½ dirhams are becoming common on the pavement, coins that have just recently become too small to be worth the trouble of carrying around.
I can only ask myself, 'What next?'
Today, in my irregular constitutional, I first saw a syringe and needle. I have seen diabetic syringes in the West, as a result of the iatrogenic diabetes epidemic, but this was an intravenous syringe and needle, which I have never seen on a Western pavement.
Later, I saw a coin.
Before I came to the UAE, I had seen many coins dropped by Westerners. Farthings, dropped after paying 19s 11¾d for some item; later, new ha'pennies dropped after paying anything and ½p. And, of course, €0.01 coins and American pennies.
For my first years here, I never saw a coin abandoned, but now ¼ dirhams and ½ dirhams are becoming common on the pavement, coins that have just recently become too small to be worth the trouble of carrying around.
I can only ask myself, 'What next?'
posted by Dubai@Random at 11:06 pm
1 Comments:
Farthings?? good grief you must be older than I thought!
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