Sense of Organization in Saudi

... or lack of it?

As Bedouin knows, I have pledged, earlier this week, to turn into a positive individual and to try hard to avoid criticism.

But have you seen the roads recently?

I have absolutely NO 'road' experience - architecturally or through driving. I used to enjoy watching them as my Dad drove, until I got older and the nausea caused by the lines moving faster and faster as the car drove off overcame my excitement and childish sense of inquiry.

I, however, am not nauseated by the yellow/white lines anymore - no, I have not grown younger - because you simply cannot drive fast enough anymore!

I really hope there is some miraculous logic behind the road renovations happening all over town. The roads that are renewed already look beautiful. However, I can make a wild, 'educational' guess that closing down several main roads (we're talking about the auto-vein of K Town and other important branches) all at once does indeed cause a major crisis.

What I have heard recently from sources that are not necessarily to be trusted, is that different companies are working on different roads. Yay diversity? Or, alas, chaos? Again, I do sincerely hope there is some sort of agreement in planning.

Another interesting road-related phenomenon is the scraping of the roads. I understand that you need to scrape around 20 centimeters of the asphalt when renovating the road, so you can basically put on a fresh, 'even' layer later on. I have seen an aesthetically intriguing, but practically troubling, scraping of some of the smaller roads - specifically ones that feed into living quarters. It happened to be that some cars were parked during the process, and the scraping machines, though intended to scrape in straight lines, had to curve around the cars and continue with their task. What my Dad told me yesterday is that there is probably no intention of getting rid of that island of old asphalt under hundreds of parked cars. The end result will be a new road with car-wide uneven patches on the sides. Now of course, the new yellow and white lines will make everything look better, so no need to worry, for car tires will be just fine.

Just a side, less important question - WHY DIDN'T THEY ASK PEOPLE TO MOVE THEIR CARS?

I am amused because I find myself writing with the enthusiasm of a driver... but passengers can feel the road too!

- Bedouinette