Problems in the UAE???

Once, Farook invited me to have dinner with some Citizens of the UAE. They asked me, 'Have you had any problems here?' I said, 'Only a very few, far fewer than in any other country where I've lived.'

Farook said I was very stupid. 'When you with Citizens, you say, "No problems in UAE. UAE perfect." You say there problems, you make big trouble for yourself.'

(In private, Farook says there are lots of problems, but when he's around a Citizen, he says 'UAE perfect. No problems at all.' Even Farook's own cousin thinks Farook is stupid; Farook's cousin said that everyone knows that, this side of paradise, there will always be problems, so Farook's cousin thought my answer was better than Farook's.)

Anyway, as someone who does not drive, I am very happy to see that Dubai is doing all it can to try to create the world's best public transportation system.

The biggest problem with Dubai is that it has a four-season climate: 1) Very Warm; 2) Extremely Hot; 3) Absolutely Unbearable; and 4) Summer.

So Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the Ruler of Dubai, paid for air-conditioned bus terminals, so one can wait for the bus in a 22 degree shelter.

Unfortunately, if you aren't standing outside in the heat, the buses won't stop. So, whenever we saw a bus coming, we all had to go out in the heat until we saw if it was our bus or not.

Now, Dubai has put monitors in many of the bus stops (and metro stations) that tell which bus will be next, so one can wait in the air conditioned shelter until the right bus comes.

And Dubai has a metro that makes what was once an expensive taxi journey a cheap and faster metro journey.

I have seen few places that go to such trouble to provide everyone great public transportation. Most places I've lived, the rulers figure the people who have to take public transportation are NOT the kind of people who contribute baksheesh to the Rulers, so public transportation is cheap, uncomfortable, and unreliable.

But in Dubai, public transport is air conditioned and comfortable.

Farook said, 'Don't give the sheikh any credit. You have to pay every time you use a bus or the metro.'

But most places don't provide such good public transportation as Dubai, the Rulers put the money in their own pockets, or divert money to the pockets of the kinds of people who can pay big baksheesh. Or wage senseless wars.

But Dubai tries to take care of the people who have to use public transport.

And I greatly appreciate that, even if Farook doesn't.