Expats, Behaving Badly

After visiting the pediatric clinic this morning, girlchild and I went to Carrefour, a place like Walmart that I prefer to avoid...but people, sometimes you need your chocolate filled crepes which come individually wrapped in the refrigerator section.  It was Friday morning, which is Sunday morning because it's church/mosque time.  Carrefour is busy because it's the weekend but also closes at 11:30 so the workers can go pray (I love that and wish that US stores weren't open 24/7/365). So the lines are typically long and people are stressed...it's that way most of the time at Carrefour...even though their prices are 20% higher than my preferred grocery shopping location and even though Doha has many, many great neighborhood/coop stores ("Al Meera" markets).

So I had my 5 packages of 8-crepes-each (no, I'm not kidding) plus about 15 other things, and I happened to pick the line next to the 10-item line.  Behind people with very full carts, I was successfully practicing my "Sabr jameel" (Arabic for "patience is beautiful," also beautifully written in Arab this way: الصبر جميل).   Beside me, the 10-items or less line moved through quickly and, in fact, became empty.  All the other lines had at least three carts waiting, and I'm sure that the 10-item line would have had someone in it in 30 seconds or less except that...

...Mr. Fair-skinned Euroman with his very full cart (50+ items) walked up to the 10-item line.  The cashier politely said to him, "I'm sorry, sir, but this line is only for ten items or less."  At which point he kept putting his piles on the belt. "I'm sorry, sir, but this line is only for ten items or less."  And then he yells at the cashier: "This is ridiculous! Every line here is full and yours is empty! I'll take my turn right here!  " I mean he yells.  Everyone looks. His wife, who is standing 5 feet from me, looks mortified, frozen in her spot. The cashier looks mortified and starts to say again, "I'm sorry, sir..." When Mr. Fair-skinned Ameriman, currently in the front of the line in my cattle chute, turns around towards them and yells, "No! He's right! An Arab just checked out way too more than 10 things and you didn't stop him because he was Arab! That's how it works! An Arab can break the rules but a Westerner can't!"

Now I am mortified. I am shocked that these two men are acting like frustrated children and yelling at this cashier. I am shocked that they apparently never learned the "two wrongs don't make a right" lesson.  And I am horrified to hear an American acting like this as dozens of people take stock of this situation. Do these people think that there are only two kinds of people in the world, privileged Arabs and Those of the West? Do these two fair-skinned Western men not realize their places of privilege?

Morons.

I get really tired of representing the West and defending American politics to non-Americans, too.  I have bad days and get frustrated.  But in the end, the only way to leave a good lasting impression is to act in ways that make others want to be courteous and patient, too.

Outside Carrefour, as the grates are being lowered to indicate closing for prayer time.

Then afterwards, marshmallows dipped in chocolate made everything all better. Sort of.