That’s the cost of representing something

Driving in this country is not the most pleasant thing to do.  There are three lane round-abouts at least every half a mile and people drive like they are trying to win a NASCAR race.  (Although, no one here knows what NASCAR is….thank goodness)  Seriously though, everywhere you look there are white SUVs weaving through traffic as fast as possible, leaving the slow and cautious drivers either in the dust or in the ditch- no real rules.  Darwin’s theory must apply to the streets of Qatar.  If you are weak, you will not survive this race.

As scared as I am to get behind the wheel of a car here, I have realized that without a car I will not be able to effectively do my job.  About a year ago, this was no problem.  Americans could get their license here just by going down to the police station and trading in their valid US license.  (This trade-in policy also applies to most European and Australian citizens)  But oh how the rules have changed.  Evidentially, about a year ago a Qatari citizen went to the US with an expired drivers license and tried to just trade it in at the DMV for a US license.  I repeat- he wanted to trade in an expired foreign license. (First of all, it is common knowledge that the people behind those cold desks at the DMV are never in a good mood.  I’m pretty sure the majority of them wake up on the wrong side of the bed at least 355 days out of the year)  Back to the story-  this Qatari was then refused a US license without having to take a driving test.  Wrong move America.  This Qatari was not going to take a driving test.  Once word got back to the traffic department in Qatar, the nice ‘easy’ trade-in privileges for the US disappeared. Vanished.  Now I am having to take a 12-day driving class as well as a difficult, no one passes driving test with Arabic police officers who speak little to no English.

I have tried twice now to go to the police station and beg for the trade-in, both times being turned away for being a daughter of the USA.  The most recent time, my boss came with me to the police station, hoping he could bend the rules.  After being directed to the top manager of the police station, we were again told that Qataris were treating Americans how Americans treated Qataris. Fair right?

As we walked away from the police station the last time-still empty handed, my boss turned to me and said, “You have to represent something Sarah”.  I thought carefully about what he said and he is right.  As frustrated as I am about these vindictive rules, I do stand for something- America.  And I shouldn’t want to hide that or get frustrated about the results of a grumpy DMV employee’s bad day.  I will wait patiently, take the class, and try my best at the test.  This is the cost of belonging to something and I will pay for it.