Sobering

I’ve changed positions within Aramco and now have an officemate. He and I chose to share an office because we are the only two members of a new division and being in the same office facilitates sharing ideas. WC has decided that I’m something of a grammar guru and sometimes asks me about such things as when to use “that” or “which” (complicated) or whether it is considered okay to begin a sentence with a preposition like “between” or “whether” (it’s perfectly fine to do so).

Today he asked me if I thought it was okay for him to use the phrase “a sobering observation” in a report he's writing for senior management.

This isn’t about a grammar or usage issue, of course, but an example of how living in this place can warp the thinking of perfectly normal people. Even though an enormous filter has already been applied that separates people who decide to come here to live and work from those that wouldn’t, you could perhaps argue from a reasonably strong position that there may be something, well, different about those of us who come here in the first place. 

But let’s assume that most of us are more or less normal when we arrive. 

If you want to survive here, as most normal people would, you quickly learn to moderate what you say to Saudis, self-censoring beyond what typical business settings would require. And even though “a sobering observation” wouldn’t raise an eyebrow anywhere else in the world, the subtle association of the word “sober” with alcohol (the origins of the word mean “without drunkenness”) is enough to doom its use here even though it has good metaphorical value.

There is another side to this self-censoring coin--what happens when you fail to do it. Hash House Harriers are social groups of expats, often British in core, that organize runs/jogs/strolls that usually involve exuberant alcohol consumption before, during, and after the event. They often describe themselves as “drinking clubs that have a running problem.” The local hashers mostly confine their drinking to post-run events in reasonably desert locales off camp, which would certainly seem to be discreet enough.

However, photos of a recent post-hash event were posted on FaceBook. I haven’t seen them myself but apparently there were photos of people drinking alcohol; some of these people were recognized by their Saudi managers. (Saudis are quite fond of FaceBook as it provides them a facade of social connection they are denied in real life. Yet another reason that I prefer real life.) There was an enormous furor over the photos that may still not be fully resolved. I don’t have much sympathy for the hashers as they certainly know better. 

Self-censorship is part of the unwritten, unspoken contract you have to accept if you want to stay in the Kingdom. I’m amused when I read news stories in which Americans are braying about their “right” to do this or that. They truly don’t understand what exceptional personal freedoms they have.