...going into work in your pygamas

I read the excellent Saudi Gazette regularly.  Having worked in the kingdom I feel some affinity with the events reported. Also, it is a very easy read, somewhat of an antidote to reading the Guardian, which has been my obsession for the past 35 years. There was an interesting article a week or so ago about an employee of  Madinah Municipality shown in the security video going into work in his pyjamas. 



The quote in the article from the municipality is 

The municipality said it was one of their employees, but so far no one was able to identify the man or why he came to the building in his pyjamas.

According to the report, employees of the municipality have got together and are offering a SR10,000 reward for the name of the employee. The security clip was widely circulated on the Internet in the kingdom, so the employees feel that this event is a slight on their character.   Also, the article suggests that this man can be fined quite a lot of money, SR500,000. 

Well, after a quick search, it seems that it happens quite regularly all over the world, except for KSA. However, it is more of a male rather than a female thing. Personally, I've never gone into work in my pyjamas, and never worked anywhere where anyone has. However, as everyone knows who reads my blog, I can rightly be accused of being out-of-touch with the world that is going on around me. Still, if I put myself back into the enjoyable time I spent in Saudi Arabia, I can safely say that there's nothing worse than going into work in your pyjamas.

.....having a blocked nose

You wake up with a headache - still tired, struggle through the bowl of porridge and get into work. When you speak, your words are misunderstood more than normal.  The problem is obvious - a blocked nose.  What is the cure - tiger balm, Vicks vapour rub, anti-histamine, steam bath? There are many. They all work, or not, depending on something - it is one of those medical mysteries of the universe. Once back home, the inevitable question is asked - how was work today? The answer - it was okay, but I couldn't breathe properly - is met by the equally inevitable - yes, there's nothing worse than having a blocked nose.

....being wobbly on your pins

Someone I feel I know quite well was recently walking to her car at midday and felt distinctly jittery. As I have been told, Washington can be a little hot and humid in mid-September, so walking long distances outside the comfort of a shopping mall is not advisable. Not that she was on a long-distance hike, far from it, in fact. With her car looming large, her brain must have said, okay go for it, but her body gave a contrary message. The brain won. She just managed to climb in. Driving away, she must have reflected on her health – was she getting to the age when she might start feeling wobbly on her pins?

.....having your fences taken

Luigi Canaloni was recently sitting outside the Cafe' de Italiano when he was overheard making the casual remark "I have the distinct impression that the British are somewhat remiss when it comes to cooking pasta. " Within hours this remark went viral. A web site went up - neveraskthebritishtocookpasta.com, an online petition was launched entitled "All Britishers should be banned from cooking pasta", a number of facebooks were created warning people about the dangers to health of eating pasta cooked by the British, the European Union was asked to revoke the passports of all UK nationals buying uncooked pasta, #brits-are-sh**t-at-italian-cooking had a million hits, the creator of the youtube video "One hundred best British pasta failures" became on overnight billionaire.

The following events are a cautionary tale. The next morning Luigi went to his downtown tomato farm to check on his produce, and found, to his horror, that all the fences had been taken and the local goats had happily eaten his prize crop of San Marzano tomatoes. "I had heard rumours of fences being taken, but I never imagined that anyone would take a fence from me. This is the worse thing that has ever happened," a tearful Luigi remarked. He is currently enrolled on a government course on how to build fences.