honk attitude

No special privilege is granted for a given group, private taxies and Karwa both hold the traffic too, in the worst manner.

I'm not defending bad driving or ill-road manners, I’m only stating facts.

We’d rather blame it on the less accommodating infrastructure.

Salam

Its a culture and tradition which we cannot do anything about it. However stopping right at the middle of the road is unacceptabe if we are to call ourself civilised. Arguably they can be called special previlege. The long term solution is to adopt a Drive-In services for all shops no matter how big or small.

Just read this post, please further read, if still interested.

Here are two relevant threads in one:

http://www.qatarliving.com/node/55797

Salam

Marbabtain---you need to lay off the booze---I'm talking about drive-thrus (like McDonald's and other fast food establishments) Duh!

Get a clue, dude!

You must be joking - have you ever driven up to the front door of Tescos and honked for service? Duh!Yippee, Yippeee, its GORDONS gin for me!

WINNER Gordons Gin Personal Consumption Award 2008 Hic!

The west created the drive through window for LAZY people. Face it. If your lazy and don't want to get out of your car, you go through the drive through.

Here, they are followimg our western ways!

The difference is the INCONSIDERATION for others by blocking the traffic!

Many here are LAZY and INCONSIDERATE.

You clearly have no knowledge and sympathy for FAT people who have wedged their bums into their bucket seats and cant move!!! Honk away all yhou Fattyboombooms! Yippee, Yippeee, its GORDONS gin for me!

WINNER Gordons Gin Personal Consumption Award 2008 Hic!

...that's why 'masters' continue treating themselves also as 'masters'...even if it's just a small store or a restaurant.

Can't blame them.

"Everything in this book may be wrong." Illusions: The Adventures of The Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach

if you cannot beat them join them.

Everybody is right everybody is wrong, it depend where you stand

don't you worry shoeaddict, time will come that oil dwindles, expats leave, and locals will be the ones "honking" at each other. personally, can't wait to witness that:)as the world turns...

mo lang!

after i read what all wright

i think all have some thing to say some are good and ather asr selly and some are not good

i can say in any rich country you will see this in new york i saw this and more than this as will it is not only in doha

at least the peopue her are so kind and so friendly

Good to hear it.

I'll say ... what tallg said ... disrespect is never good, but honking the horn and asking for a standard service politely should not be considered rude, lazy, ...etc.

I only honk when I want a few items (3 or less), if I want more, I would "use my legs. It's called walking, see what I do is you park my car, then I walk into the store and purchase my goods" :)

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are plenty of cases of people disrespecting the shopkeepers and shopworkers, and there's no excuse for that.

I see your point. The only time I've witnessed it though is out here in the sticks and I hate the way some of the locals speak to the shopkeepers.

I hadn't realised that it was actually part of the service in many places in town... I need to check my facts or curb my outbursts;0

I have no trouble with honking. I have no trouble with car-side service. I'd even love it if a girl came out in roller skates and a poodle skirt with my order. My only trouble is with people who block traffic as if they are the only ones in the world who matter!

Mandi

Its part and parcelof the life here.. No where in the world have I seen so many drive through Cash machines than in Qatar..

If the shops employ guys to serve the public what is the problem here.. Atleast I can go in Pajama to shop without getting and get my groceries. where in the world would I be able to that..

I am loving it.. If it is ok to be served at the window at Macdonalds then what is the difference been served at a Grocery shop..lol

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HE WHO DARES WINS

Dude, there shoulden't be windows in the sides of these buildings, because people should learn to use their legs. It's called walking, see what you do is you park your car, then you walk into the store and purchase your goods, and don't give me that "ohhhh but there is a guy whos job it is to run out and bring me my stuff" [last warning - continue swearing and you'll be banned] excuse.

i bet who ever dont like it will do the same thing if he got plenty of money and has got nothing to do

Davidak89, I said "These shops can't build a special entrances for the cars, so they wait for your horn to come out." so they can't have a "a little window built into the side of the building".

..this is their culture we have to live with it

Fast food or cigarettes or a bottle of water. What's the difference? And the "little man" is being paid to serve you at your car. That's his job.

It is different... Your getting fast food. And it's a little window built into the side of the building. There is no, little man running out to serve you buisness going on.

Fran - They honk because the shop has provided a facility whereby they bring the stuff to your car. If the shop doesn't provide that facility, the people get out of the car.

There is a corner shop near me that doesn't have staff to serve the cars, so no one honks and everyone goes into the shop instead.

And bleu's right, it's no different to drive-thru fast food in the UK (or anywhere).

I'd also like to compare it to drive-in fast food, what's the difference???

These shops can't build a special entrances for the cars, so they wait for your horn to come out.

Britexpat has a point.

One thing to take advantage of the lifestyle, and another to be lazy and ignorant.

I just know how I'D feel if I cooked something for someone and they honked at me to bring it to their car because they couldn't be arsed to get out and pick it up.

Ok, so it's the 'culture' here.. but where does that sort of attitude end? Or more to the point.. what is it leading to?

Home delivery you pay for.. treating fellow human beings with that little respect is another matter.

Drive in shopping aye. My perfect little New Zealander world died the day i got off the plane in Doha.

its ur choice if u want it or not...thats how they do business here why ppl critizice everything here

I don't think anybody has the right to say anything about anybody.

We all act in the same way but at different times to different stimuli.

I can get so annoyed at 'Western' people over here as i can about other nationalities.

We are all working here, we are trying to live here. There are so many different cultures etc, no wonder there is anger.

I just don't get that there is no common thread off, 'we are humans, trying to do our best', let us all just get on with it.

My thoughts are my own, but I doubt my Mum would agree with some of them.

thanks 4 the info...

This is called drive in shopping in Qatar

that is a different story. There are many rude and ignorant people here. There are nice people here too. So lets go with the flow.

We are guests in thier country, lets not be too critical.

My thoughts are my own, but I doubt my Mum would agree with some of them.

good for you and your really good attitude

is i hope it doesnt happen to you the way they treat these people.

course they would. And if my local Asda did I would honk too.

My thoughts are my own, but I doubt my Mum would agree with some of them.

pennypitstop,

If 7/11 or SPAR offered this service for a small fee, people would do it. If it was for free, many people would do it, and prefer to go to that shop.

I can't imagine as an English woman, pulling up outside a Spar Shop or a 7/11< if they still exist or a take away and honking a horn and then getting service.

We would be dragged from our cars in most areas and our heads kicked in or at best ignored.

Nor do I imagine anybody, unless they were mega and I mean ultra rich have a maid pushing the trolley as well as the kid and then seeing to the other kids whilst the 'Mamm' wondered round and then expected a bag packer, the driver to leap from the car and put the bags in the back of the car. It is unheard off. The truly rich just have a 'woman that does'.

Over here I think it is a status thing, they can, or make out they can afford a maid to do all for them.

I understand the mentality of the shop keeper, he is trying to make a living and all that 'honk' and wait are not awful people, they recognise this is the service that is offered by some over here. And if somebody makes a decent living from it so be it.

It is no different from some people ordering over the internet and having it delivered to their door only for their 'cleaner' to put it away.

We see it as rude, they see it as paying somebody for a service.

Blocking the road and not saying please and thank you< don't get me started on that.

Not that we ever forget our manners in the so called '1st world'.

Oh common wats rong wit it...

Obviously stoppin traffic is pretty retarded but other than that its cool I think...I mean I always do that and I am not even its jus I dunno I like luxury...sue me!!!!!!

Only God Can Judge Me!!!!!!!

Alexa,

I replied and wrote back some PMs about it, but I would prefer to say it here. You seem to know the truth from the exaggerated debate (7,8,10,11,13,... are not the whole truth):P Some people like to call people name because they voiced an opinion against what they grew up learning.

still, that doesn't make it right when some a55h0le blocks the only narrowed road to have his gutra ironed! he could've parked somewhere & walked to the laundry instead.nothing justifies such attitude.

See I take issue with some of those points bleu, because there is a 'loser' in some of the situations.

You're right in some aspects that rich westerners are the same, though there are some things on your list that don't happen in the west (or if it does it's isolated, rather than an epidemic!).

But with this horn honking issue I don't see a loser (unless the road is blocked as I stated above).

Well i guess some people who grow up being raised a certain way, being taught you do everything yourself you make everything yourself, no cutting corners, no easy way out. These kinds of people, includeing me, will see these rich arab folk as being rude, and arrogant. And to bleu, you sound like a douche, and yes i would think the same of lazy white westerners. Except no offence, alot of westerners, well at least form my country don't seem as bad as what you just listed.

But hey it's your country you can do what you wan't and as long as i am here, i can complain about it all i wish.

"Pulls the finger"

tallg, it's really funny...

I see some people so angry that we do some things differently, and they see it as being so wrong...

We have maids and drivers.

We don't have a dishwasher, we don't need it.

My children only do chores if they want to.

My wife only cooks if she wants to.

My wife only drives if she wants to.

I drive a white landcruiser, when I don't want to drive any of my other cars.

I drive on the pavement.

I honk my horn a lot.

I honk my horn when an a55h0le blocks the road.

I have the right of passage whenever I drive.

I like to drive at around 500km/h on all the roads.

I don't like doing anything myself if I can pay somebody to do it.

I have never washed any cars.

I have never cleaned any houses.

...

There is an issue with these people who think it's all wrong. Rich people in the west are exactly the same, and nobody complains about their domestic help, cars, big houses, driving, ...etc.

I'm amazed at how unaccepting people are of something that differs a little from how it's done in their own country. So people get their goods brought to them in their car. So what? The shops is happy for the custom, the shop boy is happy for his job, the driver is happy for his purchase. Who loses? Get over yourselves and try and accept that not everything's the same as where you come from.

(I will acknowledge that where this blocks the roads it's obviously an issue. That isn't the case everywhere though, and is an issue with road sense rather than laziness).

Its all these stupid xxxxxx know , let alone know how to drive ,especially at roundabouts , so glad that im pissing off from this crappy place!

Without imagination their is nothing!

Thank you smoke for acknowledging that.

Another thing i have seen MANY "National Dress" (i wont say Qatari coz seems like everyone wears that now a days)wearing folks, actually get out of their cars and do go in to buy whatever they have to, so its not like they are all lazy, i'm sure half of the people talking against this have most prob done the same thing themselves. :p

Good Fortune always comes knocking at your door...when you are sh*tting in the toilet!! :)

_[]~SMoKE~[]_

we dont pump our own gas in India as well, we have people do it for us. Grocery stores back home are mostly run by owners themselfs. here u will not see a Qatari running these small grocery stores will u? These shop people are hired to run their business and are expected to pay the rents to the actual owners every month so hey pardon them for doing whatever they have to do to make the money :)

Good Fortune always comes knocking at your door...when you are sh*tting in the toilet!! :)

_[]~SMoKE~[]_

I love to pay for convenience - except when it inconveniences others. I have no objection to anything but the "me first and only" attitude. That's when I advocate the DIY approach. And I do everything here but pump my own gas when I need to!(Good jet-lagged morning, Alexa, from NY!)

Mandi

The only reason those people have those, running out to serve you oh grand master, jobs is because the arabs here expected them to do the role in the first place.

What we do in the West is one thing? last i heard Qatar was trying to be more Western... Ain't doing a good job if they are gonna pick and choose their culture.

Mandi you do that HERE? or back in the States? we arnt talking about what u do back in the States, over here its a different story and i've already stated the reasons as to why this happens. We are not talking about going to a place like Villagio where u have to drive around just to find parking, we are talking about these little grocery shops that u find in the most awkward nooks and corners of Qatar where there is practically no parking, its fast to serve people in the cars. Seriously the shop people have no issues about this, so stop this ranting! Its not exactly a custom to do the honking thing, but hey if you want to park your car where there is hardly any room for the other cars to park while u go in side and take ur sweet time to shop, well then u'll just get honked from behind :P

Good Fortune always comes knocking at your door...when you are sh*tting in the toilet!! :)

_[]~SMoKE~[]_

Well, yes, Smoke, I do pump my own gas and bag and carry my own groceries - I'm back in the US right now. And when I go to the post office or the "mom and pop" grocery and there's no parking, I wait. I hope that it would have to be a matter of life or death before I believed that MY time was more valuable than another's. I would find Qatar a paradise if this ONE aspect of life were universal there. Hrumph, end of sermon.

Mandi

it is the first thing I noticed here. It is really annoying, and there was a time that I have noticed that one guy just going to buy a bottle of mineral water and it kept the traffic worsen because of such. such irresponsible and lazy attitude really made me pissed off sometimes.

:)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

CONFUSE ............ if you cannot convince!

but of course there's always a limitation to one's "laziness". If you are obstructing traffic or causes inconvinience to others, then you have to move and stretch your muscles! Lol!!!!!!!!!!!

"dgoodrebel will always be the rebellious good one"

Dude shoeaddict i totally agree with you, i find it reallly disrespectful that these guys are too lazy to get out of their cars and go into the store thesmelves.

People in this country need to get rid of the maids and servants and all that shit that no one needs, and start doing things for themselves and learning what hard work is like. Well bascially what reality is like.

if it hold's up traffic. The fault lies completely in the hands of the Doha Municipality planning department for not requiring enough parking places. They are trying to be like Europe, but unfortunately here the mass transit does not work the same and so more parking is required. They are starting to wise up and put more parking in some of the new developments (for example along Salwa Road) but it is still not enough and doesn't address the problem of the older shops.

What smoke says is right. Plus most shops actually employ someone specifically to deal with customers in cars. If they stopped doing it the people would lose there job. Just because it's different to how we do it back home doesn't make it wrong.

This has been discussed before, there are the good and the bad side to this. Lets see now most of these general stores are located in small and hardly any parking places, so what do u do when u just want to buy a pack of ciggies or a bebsi? for this ONE item you will try to find a nice parking some where if your lucky, then u shut off the engine, go to the shop who is then taking orders on the phone, handling hala cards, taking money from the rest of the people who are there before you and all u wanted was that quick pack of ciggies or bebsi coz your dying of thirst. Now wouldnt it have been easier to hand over the money, get ur bebsi and zoom away?

It has nothing to do with being lazy, i mean if i go to to these shops and i have time to spare i do get out of my car and get my own stuff but at times i'm in a hurry then its honk honk time. Like Ukeng said why dont u get out of ur cars and fill your own fuel, or put ur own groceries in the bags?

Good Fortune always comes knocking at your door...when you are sh*tting in the toilet!! :)

_[]~SMoKE~[]_

lmao Jack... depends on how brisk the service is i guess lol

____________________________

Sorry, but I've noticed its the Landcruiser brigade that are the culprits here!

is ILLEGAL. You cannot stop your car and hold up traffic in this way. Start taking license numbers and turn them into the police. I have started taking my phone as if to take a picture. It often gets the lazy bum to move.

They fill your car tanks, they help you with your packing at supermarkets, so what difference is it when they come and serve you at the shop.

It part of the culture here now. I am kinda enjoying it.. Oi I was here before you..

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HE WHO DARES WINS

SAMAEL...whos nuts?...Waterboy's or the camels...lol

Hhhmmmnnn, I must admit I hate it as it becomes part of your life, and when someone doesn't come running up to you straight away you can become tired and frustrated. Still no reason to lean on the horn though. Think its about time to go back to reality.

I remember going back to New Zealand for the first time in about four years and buying some sausages and beer in the supermarket. The lady at the counter asked " you are going to a BBQ?" My immediate reaction in my head was "Mind your own bloody business!" but then remembered that she was just being nice and making polite conversation.

Its different in each country, yes people are lazy here and if you don't like it, go out and fill up your own car ;-)Im sure once we go back to our home countries we will all miss it!

I must admit that it pi##es me off to. It gives the impression that the person is too bloody lazy to get out of the vehicle. The guy comes out, takes your order, goes back, brings out the order, takes your money, goes back and brings back change..

I asked a shopkeeper once why he "put up with it".. He just smiled and said "business is business"..:)

balls are too big.......

=Dura Lex Sed Lex=

People are practicing what theyve been seeing on TV and in the US. Dine on wheels. :D

wonder what they did when it was camels... grab their nuts to get the attention of a water boy at an oasis?

____________________________

...this ATTITUDE thingy you just cannot change, so get use to it...

honk, honk.

I do it all the time. And we also have drivers and maids.

We do nothing ourselves and like to pay for service.

I don't feel pathetic, or sad.

My husband keeps telling me about it when he sees this happen. I always reply, "So what's your point?"

Mandi

are you singing or commenting or just got hit by my post.no offense...