Blog Fodder

One thing I am impressed with in Doha is the lack of crime.  According to the latest newspaper article, Qatar has some of the lowest crime rates in the world.  This may be due to the deterrent of very harsh punishments, but I am optimistic enough to think that the majority of ex-pat workers - from the lowliest unskilled labourer to those at the top of the ladder, are honest and decent at heart.  The locals too:  here's some proof - the other day I went to the vegetable souq and had a wheelbarrow man trundle my purchases to the car.  As I neared the vehicle, I shoved my hand into my pocket to obtain the keys and unknowingly spilled a 10 riyal bill onto the road behind me.  The wheelbarrow man - who probably earns just a few riyals per day, shyly handed the money to me and in broken English told me that he had seen me drop it.  I promptly gave him the QR10 back as a tip.  His smile lit up my day and I can't be certain, but I think I saw him do a surreptitious dance on his return to the souq.  And where else would you be able to see a sight like the one above? - a shopping cart, or trolley as it is called here, full of groceries, left all alone to fend for itself, while its owner browsed in another store.

More grist for the mill: This guy has to be advertising something, most likely himself - because it sure isn't a new way to pray, as he is not even facing east. And given that I have put him in the blog...I think he succeeded.

And finally, I think this represents the ultimate in "make work".  This poor man is sweeping up desert sand! Oh, man!, what a never ending story that will be. 

Missing you all.