Workplace Etiquette

There's a new girl at my work. She's an Arab, not Omani. She also thinks she can order people around, and how polite she pretends to be is based generally on your skintone and your income.

Our bosses are Omani so if you are Omani and a client or, of course, the boss, you get treated decently.

If you are English or from my country, ditto.

Now, I like Oman, because the majority of Omanis in my aquaintence don't pull the whole, "I'm Khaleeji (Gulf) and better than you" on me or even on a lot of our Indian staff. I know racist Omanis too, but the majority are better than the whole of the Gulf as I have experienced, meaning no offense to the REST OF THE GULF. That does not mean perfect, but it does mean better.

Anyways, NO OMANI IN OUR STAFF ever yells at the other members of our staff no matter their income or job position or country of origin, and "please and thank you" are widely offered and recieved.

Except, unless of course, they are both Omani, and related to eachother, and then I assume, it is okay because they are family????? Tamam?

But this woman? Dear God! The first person she yelled at was a cleaner who makes a salary of only 20 rials a month. Obviously, she felt no threat from him, and I should have seen from this, and intervened, really. I will call and try to apologise. EVEN HE knows he deserves better and does not want to come back.

She barks orders at all the Omani and Indian staff that don't have high salaries. I didn't like this but when I complained to those who had been yelled at they were like, OPNO, in one ear and out the other. But not me. People don't treat people like that. Master and Slave isn't even between us and our boss, and she sure as hell isn't our BOSS.

I am going to get our boss to reiterate that.

She realized after a while (plus, when not blogging, I am a terribly open kind of person) that the social conditions that have resulted from my conversion to Islam have left me without the "class" my "whiteness" is supposed to afford me. She doesn't respect alot of the things I value for the sake of my religion overly worldly comfort, and after knowing my thoughts on second wives ect, as regular readers of the blog do, she downright thought of me as very lowly feel sorry for her girl. Only she isn't sorry for me, LOL, she decided this new understanding of my "social standing" left me open to be bossed about too. NO WAY YOU CAN DO THAT TO OPNO, even if you are her boss, which you are not.

My company knows they are getting me at a discount because of my hijab (I am not preachy preachy at work, ya'll, very professional, it is just that I like to dress modest and prefer Omani clothes) but that I have option that pay me 5x what I make where I am. So I DON'T THINK my boss will take kindly to how she speaks to the staff. NOT AT ALL.

This is kind of a rant, but it is totally wrong for someone to think they can boss someone around based on social standing and country of origin.

If I thought like that, I would be like, and you were a maid for our family in Saudi, if I were prejudiced about HER country, or social status.

Dear God, Alhamdulilah, I was raised to see a person for the content of their character and their ideals.

Do you personally see this alot where you work or in your day to day dealings? it is RARE for me daily dealings but now I don't know, some of the staff seem used to it, and not nearly as offeneded as I am.

Am gonna cruise out on my outdoor patio furniture tonight like the woman in the pic above to forget, halal margaritas, and my own barbecue of lamb mishcock (mishcock is like an Omani kebab-skewered meat on a stick barbecued) to seethe my anger out. Maybe I'll go camping on the weekend, getaway to Sharqiyah... land of my love.