Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Life in Dubai - Buscapades

In direct continuation of my bus stories, a totally new scenario confronted me today. I deliberately left the office at 5pm sharp in order to try and catch bus no 6 that i know arrives at the bus stop at about 5.05pm. Crossing the road I make out the bus approaching at a distance. I began to run. There were other guys at the bus stop getting ready to board the bus and get this, the bus driver DOES NOT STOP and just keeps on driving!!! Perhaps he expected someone to actually flag the bus down but a few chaps moving into an anticipated position at where the bus would stop would be clear enough indication. Everyone at the bus stop was dumbfounded and I was left breathless from the running (and gaining a few pounds). Just one of those little situations where getting worked up would achieve nothing. Its times like these that you appreciate the little things you take for granted in a wonderful modern country like SINGAPORE!!!

That sort of sums up what the service industry here is all about. The trick is to have a really low rock bottom expectation of things. This way you can only be pleased. :)

2 comments:

Lensmeister said...

Oh man.. that sucks ! How long did you have to wait for the next bus ? Well.. perhaps Dubai needs a public-forum website like www.stomp.com.sg.. haha.. cos if that happened here in SG, the bus company would be innundated with complaint letters from disgruntled communters :P

MartinElGrande said...

Well thankfully another bus appeared 5 mins later but one with a different route to take. This bus can still take me to the area where I live but with a slightly longer detour. Nevertheless I got on. I rather be sitting on a bus on the way home albeit on a slightly longer route than standing around waiting for the next bus to appear and risk the same situation as yesterday occurring again.
I tell you, it's the third world mentality of this place that sets it back.