Back to (ab)normal

Mrs Dabbler was here for the last 2 weeks. After fetching, carrying, shopping and otherwise spending money, I am back to being on my own again.

A variation on a theme.

You know you have been in the UAE too long when:

* You think the best time to cross the street is at midnight, dressed completely in black, holding hands with your entire family.

* You no longer wait in line but go immediately to the front of the queue,
which can sometimes be one deep and three thousand wide.

* You stop at the bottom of an escalator to plan your day.

* It becomes exciting to see if you can get onto a lift before anyone can
try to get out.

* It is no longer surprising that the only minute made at a meeting is the
time and place for the next meeting.

* You rank the decision-making abilities of your staff by how long it takes them to reply 'Up to you!'

* You no longer wonder how someone who earns 2000 Dhs per month can drive a brand new Mercedes.

* Your Mercedes has leather upholstery but you still keep the plastic covers the car was delivered with on.

* You accept the fact that you must queue to get a number for the next
queue.

* You accept without question the mechanic's analysis that the car is
'broken' and will cost 'a lot' of money to get it 'fixed'.

* You find that it saves time to stand and retrieve your hand luggage from
the overhead lockers whilst the plane is making it's final landing
approach.

* A T-bone steak with rice sounds just fine.

* You believe everything you read in the newspapers.

* You regard traffic signals, stop signs and fake watch peddlers with equal
disdain.

* When listening to the pilot prove he cannot speak English you no longer
wonder if he can understand the air traffic controller.

* You regard it as part of the adventure, when the waiter repeats your
order exactly but the cook makes something completely different.

* You have more knickknacks than your grandmother.

* You are no longer surprised when three men with a ladder arrive to change
a light bulb.

* You understand all the above