OK, first things first. I have been informed by reliable sources that I'm not smiling enough and I look tired. To which I reply:
Tired, yes, but smiling! And wearing a great tie!
Second, tonight's trip home from work led to an interesting scenario where I knew my way around town better than the cabdriver. Of course, the poor kid spotted me two weeks in Abu Dhabi... it was his first day on the job. But it was an entertaining journey back to the Kingsgate Hotel. Our conversation went something like this:
ME
Hello! Kingsgate Hotel, please.
16-YEAR-OLD-DRIVER
Sorry, sir, I do not not know that hotel. It is the first day on job for me.
ME
OK, do you know where the Tourist Club Area is?
16YOD
Tourist clubs?
ME
It's a neighborhood.
16YOD
...
ME
Can you drive to 9th Street and Al Salaam?
16YOD
Yes, sir.
ME
OK. Drive there, and I will tell you how to get to the hotel.
A block later he starts to randomly turn left when he should turn right But it's too late to turn anywhere.
ME
No, no... just go straight. And then at the next light, turn right.
This part goes smoothly. After the turn, I say,
ME
Now when you get to Al Salaam, turn left, please.
16YOD
OK, sir.
We get to Al Salaam. A half-block away he puts his right turn signal on and begins to cut across three lanes of traffic to turn right.
ME
No, left. Signal left, please. Left, please. No, left!
16YOD (25 feet from intersection)
Left?
We make the turn. Al Salaam ends in a giant pit of construction a few blocks away--the city is burying the road in a tunnel, because why not?--and we are forced to turn right, which is fine. That's exactly what we want to do. And then we need to take the next right. As we approach the intersection,
ME (pointing)
Turn right here, please.
16YOD (continues to drive straight)
Yes, sir.
ME
Uh... just stop, please. I'll get out here.
And so it was that I walked the rest of the way to the hotel after directing a cab driver around a town whose street names are difficult to pronounce, let alone memorize.
Time for the weekend.
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