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Overtaken by the weekend
Thursday is my favourite day of the week as it sets the stage for what I think will be the next 48 hours of utter bliss, when I can stay snuggled in bed and generally do what I wish.
- By Mahmood Saberi, Senior Reporter
- Published: 23:54 March 31, 2009
Thursday is my favourite day of the week as it sets the stage for what I think will be the next 48 hours of utter bliss, when I can stay snuggled in bed and generally do what I wish.
I make plans in my head of things I have never been able to do even after all these years in the UAE, and I feel happy and upbeat.
Ages back, when I first came here, everybody got one day off to recharge their batteries, except for a lucky few who worked for international companies. The stress of trying to get most of your personal work done within 12 hours was so intense that it was relaxing just getting back to work.
One day off in a week was like going back home for vacations after 11 months and trying to fit in everything, from visiting friends and relatives who live in far-flung areas - trying to reach them would be like taking the Al Ittihad road to Sharjah as the sun sets.
After what seemed like forever on the road, you would reach your friend's place and he would remark: "Haven't things changed? Traffic is much better now. We have flyovers all over the place."
The one-day off routine was also like trying to complete paper work at the bank because you had ignored letters telling you it was time to renew your deposits. The manager looks at you and wonders how you could have survived so long without any knowledge of how money works for you.
Coming back to the Thursday night euphoria, I usually go to my favourite video shop and pick up two new movies, and the Filipina storekeeper gently reminds me to return them within 48 hours.
I invariably never get to see the movies and, as the week progresses, I get more gentle reminders on my mobile to please bring back the videos as there are other eager customers waiting.
Last Thursday, too, I went to the video shop, which is located in an area where taxis are never seen, and my car made a strange screeching sound. As I turned the key once again, there was only an ominous clicking.
For some reason I happened to have the phone number of a tow-truck service on my mobile. I called up the recovery guy and he replied that, since I live in Jebel Ali and the car was to be brought to Jumeirah, it would cost me Dh250.
Fuming that I was being overcharged and refusing to pay that amount, I stood waiting for a bus at an open-air stop in the dark with the two new DVDs in my hand. The wind started picking up and began to blow sand in my face.
The next day, I prepared to hire a car and thought of calling another tow service, and the garage, and the spare parts shop, I realised it was a Friday and decided to sleep in a little while longer. But two parrots, who had apparently escaped from their cage, sat on a tree branch near my window and started squawking loudly at each other.
On Saturday I shuttled between the spare parts shop in Al Quoz and the garage in Jumeirah as I had been given the wrong part. The car was finally repaired, but now I had two vehicles and trying to return the hired car in Karama and getting back to the garage before it shut for the day was quite stressful.
"Sorry, we don't pick up the cars... only at the airport," said the car hire guy. The mechanic reminded me that the garage did not have parking space and that I should take my car away. It took a lot of my own hastily thought-up crisis management techniques to get through those two days.
Then my wife reminded me that we would starve if we did not get the weekly grocery shopping done.
I am now looking forward to my next weekend.
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