Incident Involving littering on the highway, and OOFFBITD's theory about how he personally contributes to the economy by providing employment, ha!

Despite all the "Save Water" and "Re-use Your Plastic bags" poster campaigns going on in Oman, there is a breed of Omani oblivious to this. He is one of my oldest friends, and known to almost everybody from Al Khoud to Al Ain SOMEHOW. They are probably related to him. [B & L snigger]. We've all used his name to get into something back in the day.

We'll call him.... OOFFBITD [for 'old omani friend from back in the day'].

Am not making this stuff up. He exists, wallah.

We are driving. We [OPNO A, L, B & OOFFBITD] stop at a coffee shop. We buy schwarma (anyone who knows me knows this is what I lived on when I was totally broke and jobless), we drive.

OOFFBITD unrolls window. Throws used napkin out the same window. We continue to drive. Only OPNO and B are non-Omanis in this instance. The Omanis don't seem to take this as out of the ordinary.

B is enraged. B is the evironmentlist in our crew (I am the humanist-I get mad about him not puting seatbelts on his kids ect. and driving like an idiot---I have given up on influencing him to greater good, and just try to keep him from hurting others or himself).

B [to OOFFBITD]: "Did I just see what I think I did?!" [obviously about the napkin].

OPNO [to B]: "OOFFBITD threw his garbage out the window indeed."

B [to OOFFBITD]: "How can you do something like that? Don't you care about Oman? Your future kids having somewhere nice and clean to play?"

OOFFBITD: "*&** Oman." [Keeps driving].

Napkin is forgotten until the window is rolled down and the foil wrapper from the schwarma goes out.

B: "I am going to make you go back there and pick it up."

A [crushing on B] and Oman [to OOFFBITD]: "Yeah, keep Oman clean, bro."

OOFFBITD [to B]: "See the men with the brooms?" [motions to the orange jump suited street sweepers]. "I give them jobs."

B [enraged, she is also a human rights activist]: "Do YOU know what those POOR MEN MAKE to keep Oman looking clean and beautiful? Slaves wages!" [B sits back in her seat, amazed that the rest of us are so calm and not stopping the car and making OOFFBITD get out of the car and clean his own crap. I wish B was driving this day. It would have been fun.

OOFFBITD: "Without me, there would be no work."

B: "Then Oman would have more money to spend on education or increasing the salary for your line of work. They wouldn't have to waste it on street sweepers if Omanis put their own trash in the bins."

OOFFBITD: "Why do you come to work here then?"

B: "." [Sits back angrily, arms crossed.]

OPNO [off-handedly]: "In my country, we throw our own garbage into bins. We don't have street sweepers."

[OOFFBITD, A, and L look at me like I claim to have walked on the moon].

A: "And is your city clean?"

OPNO [I can answer honestly]: "Yes."

OOFFBITD [laughs and looks back at me sitting all lady-like in the backseat]: "Give me 5 Omanis and 1 week in your city. And you wouldn't be able to say that anymore."

Ahhhhhhh OOFFBITD, you made my day. Your social perceptions, lack of delusions and your Courtney Love-esqe who-gives-a-damn attidude truly inspire me. Since I kinda care too much about the world, and people, and things... Even you, LOL:XD ;p

On that, for those with the delusion of making the world a better place and for a sustainable, cleaner Oman (like B and myself) Victoria from Sultanate Social found recycling facilities in Muscat (for the where) check out this post http://sultanatesocial.blogspot.com/2010/06/coincidentally.html.