A story about typical Qatari youth....
I'd like to relay my experience on the roads of Doha last night. I'm sure many here will empathise with the perils we regularly face.
A group of us, all expats living in Qatar, spent a very pleasant evening enjoying a delicious dinner at one of Doha's prestigious restaurants. A joyous time was had by all. At the end of the evening, probably close to midnight, we said our farewells and got into our cars to make our way home. In my car i was joined by one of my friends requiring a lift back to his compound.
As we made our way back through the dark throughways, the hotel whence our journey started being in the outskirts of the city, I encountered a typical scene in Doha; a vehicle with blazing headlights speeding up behind me, lights flashing like it's going out of fashion. Considering I was approaching a roundabout, I decided to stead my course. As I navigated the roundabout, the lights stayed fixed in my mirror, flashing incessantly. What exactly does this driver want me to do?..we pondered; it's a roundabout!
As I left the roundabout, the vehicle continued to follow, inches behind my tail, flash flash flashing away.
As is sometimes my wont, I decided to teach this impatient autoist a mild lesson in fortitude. So i started to slow down. All that flashing was making me nervous and I've heard it can induce epilepsy. Best be safe here, i thought.
After a few moments with my speed lowered, i moved cautiously into the next lane not wishing to upset the capricious vehicle with any sudden movements. The road is yours my brave road warrior, godspeed to you, i thought.
Instead and to our surprise, the vehicle moved directly behind me into the next lane and continued to flash with even greater vigour. My friend and I looked at each other puzzled and tried to make out who they were. It was clearly not a police car, unless they were undercover? Had i upset someone earlier in our journey unbeknownst to me? Without reaching a conclusion, we made a decision. Let's see what where this goes. So i pulled over and parked up. The vehicle pulled up behind me.
In my mirror, i saw the figures of 2 young Qatari youth, dressed in full Qatari garb, rushing out of their car with urgent intent, bearing down upon us. Instinctively, we both jumped out of our car and moved to confront the two. This is what happened.
The first Qatari rushed up and proclaimed, "my friend there is petrol leaking from your car! We've been following you trying to get you to stop! Look here..."
He crawled onto the floor with his impeccable white thobe and tried to identify the source of the leak.
His friend, the second Qatari, with equal concern for our well being asked me, "friend do you have a fire extinguisher? Let us find it!". He rushed into my car and started searching for the fire extinguisher.
Meanwhile, my friend and I stood bemused by the roadside. The first Qatari shouted, "I see it! I see the leak, it is from the fuelpipe just here", he gestured to us. His friend shouted out, "i cannot see any extinguisher! This is not good! We need to have an extinguisher". He continued he search.
The first Qatari turned to me and said "friend, you cannot drive this car, please do not drive this car. It is not safe. Where do you need to go?"
We spent the next few minutes debating our next move, and decided to call one of the other friends we'd just left from the dinner engagement.
We thanked these Qatari friends for their concern and assured them we were able to continue our journey. With some reluctance, they asked us to take care shook our hands and were on their way.
The world would be a nicer place with more youth like this.
yes we have good and bad Qatari, but my question is why most of us meet only locals with bad attitude...
Its not a perfect world we live in... at least the guys helped.
After reading the comments... If I see similar situation I would rather ignore, overtake and speed off.... else that person would post on QL and then he would have so much trouble explaining... How? Where? which? when?...
mynameisred, i am definitively not buying this story. ppl have already pointed out various reasons. You cooked it up too much bro.. am sorry.
I am sorry but I really did not see the point in this story.
Yes. I also have a very good experience with Qatari youth, Once my wife's car was stuck up, they came, and drove the car out and my wife could continue with her journey. Thank you Qatar.
Every community has good & bad people, there is no exception for Qatari's...
normally they pull up next to you to let you know there is a problem.. if they want a fight they flash their lights at you to get you to stop.
Source: 8 years driving experience in Qatar.
A similar incident happened to me 3 days ago. The Land Cruiser behind me was flashing its light for around 30 seconds. I was driving on Wakra Road. I got annoyed. I stayed in the lane. Later, to avoid further flashing, I decided to move to the next lane. The driver drove past me and stopped at the traffic lights just ahead. A Qatari driver( I suppose) came out of his car. I thought he wanted to start an argument. Very nicely, he told me I did not have my lights on. I was very embarrassed.
Humanitarian well concerned ...... Hands off
WOW..!!!
unfortunately the worst drivers are not Qataris and these non-Qataris should behave because this is not there country
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am always caught off-guarded about this peculiar words nowadays! MAybe I need to go back to English 101.
Definition of autoist:
automobilist, motorist
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/autoist
Bombastic rhetoric. And there is no such word as "autoist" , it's "motorist".
These two statements from two different posts by you, totally contridict each other then.....
"I encountered a typical scene in Doha; a vehicle with blazing headlights speeding up behind me, lights flashing like it's going out of fashion. Considering I was approaching a round-about, I decided to stead my course. As I navigated the round-about, the lights stayed fixed in my mirror, flashing incessantly. What exactly does this driver want me to do?..we pondered; it's a round-about!
As I left the round-about, the vehicle continued to follow, inches behind my tail, flash flash flashing away.
As is sometimes my wont, I decided to teach this impatient autoist a mild lesson in fortitude. So i started to slow down. All that flashing was making me nervous and I've heard it can induce epilepsy. Best be safe here, i thought."
Read more: http://www.qatarliving.com/node/3069246#new#ixzz1xTd0HktQ
"I'd like to make clear that at no stage did the Qataris pursuing us engage in any dangerous driving or cause in me a reaction that would put me in any danger. The reference to me being nervous was ironic. Au contraire, I am deeply thankful to them for taking the time and trouble to avert a potential catastrophe. "
Read more: http://www.qatarliving.com/node/3069246#new#ixzz1xTd7GBVW
Can you make up your mind, which it was?
:) mynameisred, it is indeed refreshing to read your eloquent posts. Keep 'em coming please!
Thankfully, the car has now left my possession and has been replaced with a non-flammable-liquid-leaking version.
Lest there be any confusion, I'd like to make clear that at no stage did the Qataris pursuing us engage in any dangerous driving or cause in me a reaction that would put me in any danger. The reference to me being nervous was ironic. Au contraire, I am deeply thankful to them for taking the time and trouble to avert a potential catastrophe.
For those who felt the story was too long, or a waste of time to read, or that I should have cut to the chase far quicker, then fear ye not as I have something more to offer. Having spent considerable years of my life reading some of the significant authors to have ever put pen to paper, from Tolstoy, Asimov, Chaucer, Sun Tze, to other giants in the literary world, through this arduous process I have learnt a very valuable lesson that is the perfect way for you to avert yourself from vacuous internet postings such as these, pregnant with prolix and verbose speech, and will enable you to utilise these precious seconds of your life performing a far more useful function. Fellow (impatient) residents of Qatar, I bring you the following few words that may remain your most important life lesson to date;
'File' ---> 'Exit'.
For the rest, thank you for feedback. I'll be sure to relay further positive experiences in Qatar, should time permit and inclination agree.
These are called arabs
lol - i liked the story, too much time you spent to narrate that incident, It would not be a problem if you just park the car and see whats the matter before doing all that which you mentioned in this 500 words long post, as far that qataris are concerned so Intention was right NOt the way of doing that, but that could be the best possible way to stop you which i think
Xena has made a good point here and it is exactly what I was about to say. These kids tried to do the the right thing in a rough way.
By no means they were supposed to tailgate someone in any case they can overtake through the right lane and waive at you but as you said, you both got nervous because of the way how these kids approached your vehicle.
There is a universal rule in which drivers should keep a distance with the vehicle on the front... thank God nothing happened here!
Too good to be true!
Please bear in mind that we are talking about expert drivers with years of tailgating experience ..
themselves or witnessed it (the goodness of a local), if one's mindset to something, no good to post this kind of story.
close to your bumper, flashing at you?
With the petrol fumes and them obviously panicking to get to your fire-extinguisher, they didn't even give a thought to the possibilty of hitting you from behind and possibly causing a spark to actually ignite all this fuel you were leaking... hmmmm....
really thats sooo nice to hear..
muslims never fail :) god bless them.
Recently i had some experience with Al Faza....We by mistake got into opposite road and was stuck for a moment when we realized it.....while thinking what to do...Al Faza came n stood in front of us...and inquired what happened...we explained it was by mistake and were not familiar with the road...he spoke to us about the Consequences and warned us not to repeat it and drive carefully.....
After he himself went almost half the road to stop other vehicles and gave us the way..."HATS OFF to the great man..."
amazing writing skills.
good for you. keep it up. two thump up
Beautiful story >>> TFS (:
Thats good they told you... gas is expensive..oh wait this isn't the USA....
It is a great place to shop with small kids as environment is very friendly but the mall management doesnt care if somebody needs a taxi too..no taxis around.Last year I was stucked there with my little kids and waiting outside I was cursing myself for coming there and finally one young Qatar guy offered me a ride upto nearby Lulu.I got in the car as a helpless soul and he dropped 3 of us at Lulu from wehre we got a taxi.His car was white mercedes and through this post I would like to thank him.His name was Mr.Jassim as he told us..Thank u Mr.Jassim.
Good writing skills mynameisred. It was unpredictable at first..I know not all of those who can read your story will agree but this is meant for sharing and it's a good intention.
Quite unbelievable and at best in the dark let's say they guessed.
However I did have puncture once and a nice Qatari man came to my aid. They can be rather delightful people and to answer the first post I don't think they did it because they were Muslim, they did it because they were decent human beings.
I've returned to this story to address the cynics and naysayers.
First of all, a pertinent question posed by many is how they knew it was petrol. The answer is in fact quite simple; the smell. When we got out of the car to speak to the pair, the stench of petrol was instantly detectable in the air and as soon as the Qatari kid mentioned it we realised he was right. They'd somehow smelt it in their car behind us. Furthermore, from the description given by one of them, it wasn't a few droplets or a trickle, but was gushing out of the car in copious amounts. The leak was not from the engine bay area, but from the rear of the car somewhere near the fuel tank, so I presume easily visible from behind.
Secondly, the fire extinguisher was indeed missing and i hadn't noticed before as it is a company car that i'd only recently received so had no need to verify its presence aforetime.
Lastly, I am not disputing the presence of other flashing road users and their possible ill intent, however my story is about the ones that flashed me last night. For me, these are typical Qatari youth.
Perhaps my glass is half full.
....this story turned out..so warm. It would not have been so warm had you got nervous with the flashing and crashed - with the fuel leaking it would have been quite a serious incident.
Not sure how you can confirm that the youth were Qatari - nevertheless there could have been an alternative to warn you - overtake you and have you slow down from the front or others. Nevertheless i have no doubt on their helpful nature (Qatari's that is - not merely men in thobs who masquerade as Qatari's) - Get stuck in the dunes and check out the help you get. Besides the very helpful nature of all my colleagues (and i know for sure they are Qatari's).
Finally with fuel leaking (if that really happened) didn't you get any smell of gas???? Considering they could spot a fuel leak from a vehicle following you in the dark - it would have been a pretty big leak - unless you were already lit up like hally's comet and continued driving. Pretty Amazing i must say. They are miracle men !!!!!! May god bless them.
Just a hunch but next time do ease up on the wino though. :-)
It seems the Villagio fire accident has scared the daylights out of some qataris...they have become so apprehensive of a fire break out that they now assume condensated water off the AC to be petrol..
I wouldn't have believed in this story had the recent fire accident not taken place.
We have good Qatari and bad Qatari, same as in any part of the world.
I am not buying this story,
How in heaven's name did they see the fuel leak while driving behind you in the Dark. (close to midnight) but we have street lights.
Fuel leak was so intense that they could see it and your fuel indicator showed nothing. Fuel evaporates pretty fast.
No Fire extinguisher in your car. what about theirs and why would you need a fire extingusher if there was no fire.
Story written very cool and composed.
Thanks for the story, nice.
I didn't know what to expect when I started reading the narrative (nice writing skills there :) )
Nice incident, clearly we need to let go of our prejudices more often.
It's interesting... but there are a few issues:
1. Most stories with flashing lights are about the actual typical Qatari youth (rich parents, don't give a damn, ignore even the most basic rules of conduct), the ones that either want to race or just want to piss you off...
2. How the hell did they know about what's leaking under your car, as they see it from theirs, in the dark, at high speeds???
It would be very nice to have more of these people on the streets... but the problem is that greed and the need for attention corrupt even the Muslims.
I know the majority of us, when we encounter the flashing lights bearing down on us at Mach speeds have a very different story...and experiences here, that leaves an awful taste that lingers until we hear of anothers encounter with the same...
As the orange ball of fire cast its yellowish hue over the roadside, it was clear that the flashing halogen beams were bouncing off the leaking petroleum like ripples reflecting moonbeams. This coupled with the xray visions of the heroic young men in pursuit ensured that a tragedy was averted...
Need I explain further ?
Something not right about this story. How did they know it was fuel leaking, the poster said they immediately told him it was leaking petrol. how could they deduce that from another car and in the dark. It could have been leaking brake fluid, leaking coolant, leak from the radiator etc.
Also why was there no fire extinguisher in your car, surely you failed your last vehicle inspection without it?
Sounds like a bit of propaganda going on here. Nice try but no cigar...
I have learnt on how to narrate a story !
My observation...is like this...
1. You were on the inner lane - fast lane .
2. Your speed was 19 KM/H .
3. You were too late to respond - give way .
4. You were lazy after a tiring day & heavy food intake .
5. You were a little bolder - being a week end - with
friend.
6. You slowed down on the road in front of an other
car / driver who was asking to move out of his way.
I am enthralled and nota little amazed by this story and the elaboration with whence you disclosed the details. We could all learn a lesson from this and ensure that we no longer stereo type peoples, nations or cultures.
but how on earth they saw a fuel leak from a broken pipe that is supposed to be under the hood right in the middle of the night....its a bit weird i guess....and simply they cud've passed u and tried to tell u there's something wrong my signaling u not stay behind u flashing and watever....
i do believe the story and really
but i do not think that the other three thousand others who are falshinng there lights all over doha needs to tell other cars that they have a fuel leak
After passing round about it was a right move to stop at a nearest possible spot!
I always found Qataris polite and decent.
Had your friend too posted this incident on QL till now ?
muslims never fail :) god bless them.
muslims never fail :) god bless them.