Monday, May 22, 2017

Overheard at Booth 3: The Father of Saudis

Saw on Twitter this weekend a discussion about a picture of the Saudi King, who had some guy changing his slippers to shoes right before Donald Trump came in.   Really interesting, how one person tweeted that the old guy should be able to change his own shoes, and then there was this long string of replies about how Saudi culture respects the elderly, how the king is considered Father of the Saudis, how it is an honour to serve the king, how you have to understand Saudi culture to understand the depth of their gratitude and their love.


Man, I wanted to jump in but I just couldn't.   There was a cultural divide that I couldn't bridge.  I wanted to say that the difference is that here in America we do not bow to a King, we only bow to the the One True God.


But then, I realized that's just a fantasy that I believed when I was growing up.  A fairy story that they taught us to keep us in line and to get us all choked up on the Fourth of July.   Now, we just worship money and power.


Sort of like the Saudis.  But at least they still have the comfort of their fantasy.  And that must be nice, on some level.



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