Tuesday, October 29, 2013

An Interesting Billboard

Speaking of stuff off camp...check out this sign. 




It's a picture of a car wreck, and on the left is a dead person.  Yes, a dead body.  Yes, this is a billboard. 

The sign says "Be Aware of Others Faults."   

Ha!  That's funny, because although it's just badly translated (what they mean is "Plan For Other People's Mistakes" or, more concisely, "Drive Defensively,")  it's exactly appropriate for Saudi culture.  People here LOVE to notice what other people are doing wrong and get them in trouble.  They think everyone else is always wrong, and they themselves are always right.  The religious police especially, the mutawa, go around tattle taling on people just for an ego boost.  So "Be Aware of Others Faults" might as well be the country's motto.  In fact, being aware of everyone else's faults is encouraged! 

I am reminded of a glass house and a rock.  Or a grain of sand and a plank.  Or the fourth word that Charlotte wove into her web.   A little of that wouldn't hurt. 


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