This Is How They Do it
Recently, Saudi Arabia celebrated its “National Day” where, as expected the Corniche Road in Al Khobar (a commercial stretch known for various establishments) was jampacked with cars spray-painted with Arabic logos and adorned with Saudi flags. Of course these are cars owned by the patriotic nationals. There were some who also painted their faces with green, the color of their flag. You will find most of them screaming with half of their bodies hanging out of the windows or extended out of the sun-roof of cars while screaming. This is not new to me though. I have growned accustomed to this scenario in fact, I’ve had my share of getting trapped in the middle of the chaotic barrage for the first time. I’ll never forget that time when in the middle of the bumper-to-bumper traffic, a young Saudi national literally jumped from another car onto the hood of my car and started doing this silly dancing routine (which is common among them). I froze behind the wheel in shock. I didn’t know whether to move forward or wait for him to get over with his odd number or yell at him. Either of which though would be a futile attempt for they are surely unstoppable. Even the traffic squads everywhere are not sufficient (and capable) to contain the volume of the the patriots in their blisfull state of revelry. As a result, it became a rule of thumb for expats and OFWs like myself to avoid main roads particularly the Corniche Road at this time of the year. But wait, that’s not all there is to it. This time around was different and I would say more shocking compared to the previous years. I have seen with my own eyes how the restaurants, shops and other (mostly Western) establishments where bombarded by the “patriots” toppling, throwing everything they could grab on to inside these shops (some of which are McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Starbucks and Hardees among others). Glasses were smashed, tables were overturned, displays were destroyed and there were numerous cases of designer shops being looted.
I wonder what they would do next year? Break into homes and offices?
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- Mc Donald’s
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- Mc Donald’s
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- Starbucks
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- Pizza Hut
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- Hardee’s
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- Baskin Robbins
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- Delivery Car
