Laboring back to reality

Today is Labor Day, where America pauses to remember the social and economic achievements of American workers by shopping linen and bath sales and yelling at those workers who had to work a holiday. Nothing says "thank you" like chewing out someone who is barely earning more than minimum wage because your Bed Bath and Beyond coupon expired in 2013 and you can't begin to understand why you can't use it for a hand soap dispenser whose shape reminds you of your beloved and deceased Vietnamese Pot Belly Pig, Petunia. As much as I'd like to say I saw that very exchange go down today, I have to admit I did not. You know, however, as well as I do, that something very similar went down today.

It is also the traditional signal that summer is drawing to a close. If children haven't returned to school yet, tomorrow is the big day. For most, this is the last "holiday" before Thanksgiving, and so it is 'game on.' It is time to get back to work, and that leaves many of us, myself included, realizing that reality does indeed bite.

My hiatus is officially over this evening. It's back to work tomorrow. It has been a great two weeks. One week was filled to the brim (even overflowing) with family and the joy those long-awaited reunions bring. The second week was nothing but time for the stunningly patient and mighty fine SML and me. Aside from one awful two hour "What to do on the island of Sint Maarten" brainwashing seminar (think of the worst timeshare presentation you've ever been roped into, combined with a crowd of people demanding how to get the best deal on knock off jewelry, while trapped in a darkened room at sea) attended by SML, who was able to escape unscathed, we were not apart for the last week. We had an amazing time together and I'll post more about it later this week. Right now, though, no time as I'm dealing with getting back to reality.

Hundreds of work emails.
Personal emails.
Things to do around the house.
The finale of "The Great British Baking Show."

All important things, people. It's back to reality. Here we go.

Dub(ai) Steppin'

Sun hitting the Burj Khalifa,
the world's tallest skyscraper

My professional work has afforded me the opportunity to see all sorts of places across this amazing planet. From hitting the ramen shops with Japanese 'salarymen' in Tokyo   to attending a professional soccer match (Go Palmeiras!) / urban riot in Sao Paulo and eating my weight in meat pies at an Australian rules football game in Melbourne, I've seen some really cool things. Even though sometimes all I've seen of a place is the airport, the inside of yet another bland hotel conference room, and the road to and from the airport, this opportunity to travel around the world is not something I take for granted. I've been very fortunate and I try not to get jaded. I still want to be amazed as these opportunities to see the world come my way.

This past week, I traveled to Dubai for the first time. I spent four days there and I was amazed by what I can only describe as a business fantasyland. An emirate populated with 95% expatriates, everything seems engineered to help that population forget that it's 107F outside. Fancy an afternoon of downhill skiing? You can do that at the Mall of the Emirates. Just a word on that mall...it is insane. It is populated with every high-end store you can imagine and yet the busiest, by a long shot, store in the place is Carrefour (think Wal-Mart but owned by the French). As I walked around that mall, I learned that the higher end the store, the surlier the Eastern European salesperson will be. From women covered literally from head to toe to European men in tank tops and man buns (yes, that horrific scourge has made its way to Dubai), the shoppers were a study in the extremes that is Dubai. Another example of the extreme - it's wicked hot in Dubai and the sand along the beaches can get ridiculously hot. One hotel solved that problem by cooling the sand. That's right, cooling the sand. They've built a cooling system under the sand so that their guests can walk on their beach without burning their pedicured feet. They've also placed large outdoor air conditioners at either end of the beach so that their guests feel cool breezes. Is it any wonder that, allegedly, Dubai has the world's largest carbon footprint?

Everything is just over the top in Dubai. At dinner with colleagues one night, a British expat seemed to sum it all up as she talked about her three years in the emirate. She said, "How could I work in London after this? I'll never earn what I do here. I can have a live in maid here for 400 pounds a month. My company will pay for my children's schooling here and it will be a better school than any public school in the UK. Every apartment here has a pool and a gym. Where am I going to find that in the UK? This place is a fantasy land. I know it's not like any other place. It's not reality, but how do I go back?"

She nailed it. It is a fantasy land. Yet like any fantasy, there's reality, sometimes an unpleasant one, behind it. Every morning, I read in the English language newspaper of yet another suicide of an expat worker (a Sri Lankan domestic, two Indians). There would be no Dubai were it not for these low-wage workers. And yet for every desperate worker who ends their life, there are countless numbers of their countrymen waiting to take their place. That is the sad reality.

I'm glad I finally got to Dubai and I'd go back. It's an experience like no other. It's a study in extremes. It's fantasy and harsh reality. It's Dubai.

Fancy a downhill run when it's 107F outside?

Sunset

Settled into my 'pod' - the Dubai experience
starts on the EK A380

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