TO ABU DHABI - Tempoplanet

OnBy Rantan RaveAs I go to work every morning, I have to pass thegarbage chute to get into the lift on my floor. Mostdays this is an uneventful occurrence, but sometimesit is like a re-enactment of a War movie gone awry!Going through malodorous battle frontlines, jumpingover discarded cardboard boxes, side steppingdecaying food, and climbing over mountains ofuseless packaging and soiled diapers. At this point,it is pretty clear why i keep most of my fancy shoes inthe car. Because thats when i put them on!Some daysit makes me want to strangle the unruly neighbourresponsible for the stinking-path-blocking mess.On bad days (and there are quite a few), the wholecorridor is blocked with large pieces of furniture andwhat have you. I have seen entire disemboweledsofas, stained mattresses propped to the ceiling,rusty barbecue sets, old toys, a rabbit cage (makesyou wonder about the tragic fate of its occupant)…and lots and lots of stuff which has overstayedits welcome period. Some days the ‘stuff’ is nothalf bad. It is still fairly new, still usable, wearable,displayable… if it was in the right home with theright owners. Instead all this stuff will surely beadded to the brimming landfills that will growso much they will one day encroach on our livingspace, just as our neighborhood garbage is alreadyencroaching on mine.My advice to all: buy less, live more, share all.Send us your feedback, questions, or just simply tellus about your linguistic (mis)adventures. Send to:arablish@abudhabitempo.comArablishAn irreverent look at the idiosyncrasies oflanguage, and tips on little things you canlearn today to enjoy it better.We know of the deep yearning all expatsand tourists have to learn Arabic. If youthink this column will teach you Arabic,then think again. There will never, repeatnever, be any substitute for long hardwork and lifelong dedication. However,recognizing that even lazy people needa break now and then, we will, throughthis column, try to pass on bits of wisdom(some useful, some totally rubbish) thatwill help you pepper your English speechwith foreign words and phrases, so youcan exude the air of an intellectual urbansophisticate.‘Transforming’ is a word we coin here. Thisis the ‘conversion’ (not to be confused with‘translation’ or ‘transliteration’) of a wordor a phrase. This usually happens withbrand names that end up being writteninelegantly in another language, andpronounced rather absurdly thereafter.Gucci, in Arabic is written as “Ghooottshi”and if spoken quickly enough soundsmore like a clearing of the throat followedby a sneeze. We are told there are thosewho prefer to soften the pronunciationto “ghooosshi” which sounds a tad morecivilized. And for the Arabic transformedphrase equivalent, we pick “Madinat.”A word to all the expats out there whoinsist on using the word “Madinat” asa short form for “Madinat Jumeirah,”“Madinat Zayed,” etc, stop! It makesyou sound severely Arabic-challenged.‘Madina’ means ‘town’ in Arabic, whilethe ‘t’ at the end of ‘madina’ translatesinto ‘of’ followed by the word: Jumeriah,Zayed etc. So from now on stop sayingI am going to ‘city of,’ unless that’s theactual name of the city (as if ), or if you’resaying this to someone who understandsabsolutely no Arabic and may actuallybe impressed by your linguistic knack forabbreviation. Another problem with theusage of ‘madinat’ is the way it is usuallypronounced. Transgressors pronounce itas ‘maaah-dinet,’ whereas ‘madina’ is waysmoother; rhymes with ‘verbena.’FUNNYTHINGOver toithappenedto me...ABOUT LIFEABOUT LIFEI wanted to buy one of the new mini laptops and wentto the biggest computer shop in one of the malls inAbu Dhabi. There was quite a choice, among the snazzypocket sized mini-computer by Vaio (the one that sticksin your back pocket—or so the advertisement says), thenthere were similar products from LG, Dell, Samsung etc. Iliked the one from Dell because it was less expensive and(I admit) I loved the bright red color.The salesman was bent on selling me the LG because it camebundled with an external drive and a carrying back. I explained tothe salesperson that the cost of the Dell, an external drive and a bagwas still better value, but he was clearly not convinced. He told me that theDell computer didn’t come with a back up CD (it was in the computer itself ),and this I later found out to be untrue.Anyhow he capitulated and gave me what I asked for but I was taken abackby what seemed like blatant bias that did not address the customer’s need,but clearly served the salesperson’s commission from the specific brand. Iwonder if anyone has had a similar experience. Sent in to Tempo by M. Amer.*You“It is a problem that happensnot only in electronics but inother product lines as well. Ithink it is an issue of carpe diem,buyer beware.”D. KhanWhat would you do if this happenedto you? Would you trust thesalesperson’s advice or make yourown decision?“The buyer should always do product research. Right now it issomething that is easy to do with the help of consumer sites. I thinkyou should listen to the salesperson but always make up your ownmind.”R. Samer“Regrettably it always happens with women. I think most womenknow less about electronics and I think we are often taken for a ride.I say take your husband or brother.”S.M.“The store should regulate things like that. Serving the customershould always come first.”R u l aSend your stories to mystory@abudhabitempo.com24Tempo November 2009www.abudhabitempo.com25