I've been trying to figure out how to write this story for almost two weeks now. I was still pretty worked up last weekend ... heck, I'm still pretty worked up today. I guess this story is always going to get me going. So here goes ...
My birthday was two Fridays ago, March 30. And, with the Dubai weekend schedule, Friday's the weekend here. That meant Liz and I had the entire day to hang out and play. First we went to the free beach for a few hours. While great that the beach is still free, the water's still a little chilly.
Our friends at the U.S. Navy Naval Oceanographic Office say the water in The Gulf is currently in the low 70s. (Click the radio button on that webpage for a temperature map of The Gulf - got to love our taxpayer dollars at work. Wait, make that your taxpayer dollars at work - technically I'm not a resident of the U.S.A. right now!)
The other reason we stayed out of the water was the jellyfish as big as my head. They were all over the shore. Biggest I've ever seen. And you've got to figure, if the ones who died were the weak ones, I don't want to find out how large their more robust siblings are!
In the afternoon we went to the indoor Ski Dubai where Liz decided to go snowboarding instead of skiing.
And that's when the birthday went horribly, horribly wrong.
It wasn't a bad idea, to snowboard instead of ski, that was a fine decision. I mean, the trail is pretty quick if you're even a marginally good skiier, so two hours on the slope can get boring.
Of course, on a weekend night we should have known better, as the joint was swarming with crummy skiiers. And since there's not a lot of trail to begin with, it's hard to hide from the untrained and dangerous.
And that's the problem right there - unlike real mountains, there's no beginner's bunny slope. There's the top, a midway, and the bottom. That's it. All one quick slope.
The other problem is complete lack of oversight / policing of the trail. But don't worry, I'll cover that in a minute.
So, a little after an hour into our two hours, Liz is getting the hang of the snowboard. She can connect several turns safely, and stop without falling. So here she is, about halfway down from the midway to the base, testing her balance when BAM! this jackass kid runs into her at FULL SPEED.
FULL SPEED.
She drops to the ground instantly.
I, of course, freak out.
The kid gets knocked down, too, but he's up quickly. But he's not asking how Liz is - he's yelling at Liz for being in the way.
He's yelling at my wife for being in his way.
And that, right there, is the way things work around here.
You didn't see me coming, I was out of control, but it's your fault that I hit you.
Thank Christ and Buddha, and hell, even Allah that Liz was okay. If not, I would have beat this kid to death with his own skiboot right there. I actually almost did that anyway, just because he was so stupid and rude.
Of course, this NOT being the United States there's no blame, no official apologies, nothing. I think they threw the kid out, but other than that, nothing happens. We're free to stay or leave, whatever.
I was livid. Not only did I want to beat the kid to death, I also wanted to beat the one "ski patrol" guy who was wearing sneakers at the base of the mountain, as well as the customer service rep who "wasn't sure if a manager could speak with us right away", and then also the manager who said, "it's a busy night, and we don't have enough staff".
Freaking out. Still am.
Then, four or five days ago, we get a call from someone at Ski Dubai, they wanted to know what time the accident happened, so they could review the video footage.
What?!
Huh?!
Why even bother?!
I mean, seriously, the manager on duty at the time could barely have cared less about Liz's condition. Shoot, Liz actually had to go sit down while the manager was there speaking with us because she was so dizzy, but it didn't phase the manager. She was just about yawning as I told her the story. Checking her watch. Wondering what she was going to do on her break. What restaurant from the food court she was getting dinner at.
At one point I almost wanted to slap her and say, "can't you at least pretend to care?!"
Obviously an apology was out of the question.
And this, right here, is why establishments like Ski Dubai are only built in the third world. Not to condone the lawyer-crazy, sue-sue-sue United States, but sometimes you need the threat of lawsuits to get big companies into gear.
And seriously, how much does it even cost to hire one more ski patroler? You go to a Starbucks here and they literally have eight people working. Each restaurant has at least ten waiters and waitresses at a time. I mean, shoot, that's the benefit of the virtual slave labor market in this country - no minimum wage + no labor laws = cheap cheap cheap workers. Why the hell isn't every third skiier at Ski Dubai on the ski patrol? Raise the price for a two hour session ten dirhams and you've got the dude's salary right there!
But no. I honestly think it's going to take a bloody and violent death on their slopes before Ski Dubai cares.
And with their ridiculously percentage of hot-rodding jackasses with no ski lessons or concern whatsoever for their fellow skiers, it'll happen sooner than later.
Luckily it won't be me or Liz getting hurt out there, because we're not going back anytime soon...
