They put on their best shirts and pants

They stacked up bricks after bricks with bare hands, they helped to build low and high rise buildings, shaping the Dubai city skylines. They returned to their cramped labour camps at the end of the day.

Friday was off day. They put on their best shirts & pants. They went to the beach. After walking & enjoying the sea breeze for a while, somebody called out to them, ”Ooi! OOi! Bangla...BANGLA, come here!!” They were summoned to the police guard watch tower on the beach. Loud voices were heard and I could sense they were being ‘lectured’ and scolded, there were loud banging sound on the table.

The 3 men left the tower after quite some time, heads down.

In the past, some beachgoers especially ladies in swim suits complained of being ogled or stared at, sometimes photographed on the beaches, by unknown fully clothed strangers, usually it was claimed, were foreign labourers. So, the authority tried to keep the beaches free from such people.

On that Friday, there’re not many people on the beach and there’re no ladies in swimming suits on the beach, the three men were just walking on the beach. Unfortunately, nowadays, any men who look like hard labourers are being observed and sometimes shooed away from the beaches.

Too free not to imagine, so I imagined, if these three men (who are also expatriate workers, theoretically) took off their shirts & jogged or walked on the beach, like those super duper muscular men on the movie ‘Baywatch’, they would probably get to stay on the beach, as they will then blend in easily with the rest of the expatriates. But they could not, because they usually earned very little, and ate not enough or just enough daily, so they usually appeared skinny. If they do that, they would probably be suspected as illegal immigrants instead, coming in from the sea...

They were not welcomed in some other places too, some were told not to go to some of the well known malls at all, even if they managed to put on their best shirts, pants & shoes, and combed their hair shiny.

Their best shirts & pants usually gave them away easily...because their best shirts & pants are usually bought at places like hypermarket or discounted stores. They tried to look their best, but most of the time not enough. Sometimes, a mall they can frequent will suddenly ban them if someone complained, they're simple people, they felt happy when the mall lifted the ban later.

Expatriates here in the desert, are not created equal after all.

It’s said that beaches are for beachgoers. And they said you have to look like one, otherwise you have no reason to be there...

Fast Forward

Each generation has its own common experience, attitude, etc., influencing & defining common characteristics among its members as well as shaping future generations. The past & present generations, with different length of years (which may overlap), and may not be relevant to some countries:

- G.I. Generation (1904-1922). G.I. means Government Issue. This generation went thru Great Depression & World War 2.

- Silent Generation (1923-1944). Generally comfortable with a hierarchical structure and prefer rules. Like stability. Grew up in traditional families.

- Baby boomers (1945-64). Optimistic, hardworking, involved. Often question authority. Many baby boomers are involved in activist movement for causes they believe in. Traditional family structure began to change as a result of growing rate of divorce.

- Gen X (1965-1979). Tend to be sceptical, lacking faith in authority, acting independently. The first generation to become adept with technology, prefer multi-task, like to communicate informally (like via email). Value diversity & try to balance between work & family.

- Gen Y (1980-1999), also known as Millennial Generation or Digital Generation. Seek diversity, multi-task, don’t wear watches because cellphones tell them the time & watch can only do one thing. Entwined in virtual & real worlds. They are in constant communication with friends, through e-mail, text-messaging. Facebook & MySpace appeal to them much like discotheque appealed to the generations before.

- Thereafter for 21st century, tentatively known as Gen Z for those born in the year 2000-unknown, probably 2009, when the global financial crisis is expected to end. Also known as New Silent Generation or Internet Generation. Share almost the same traits as Gen Y.

I am a Gen X. I wonder what our future generation will face. Fast forward to the immediate horizon, the Year 2030, 21 years later. There is this possible scenario:

A young male adult finds that there are many other adults who look like him. He wonders whether they are his step siblings or extended family from surrogate, or sperm donors. He cannot simply fall in love with any opposite gender without having to check their DNA, unless he does not intend to ‘repopulate’, otherwise he risks having genetic disorder for his next generation.

Rewind back to the present.

'Extended family' due to remarriage, children born out of wedlock & given away, are already common and on the increasing since a few generations ago. Today, due to the recession, it is reported that cash-strapped women turn to surrogacy to ease their financial burden. College students, cash-strapped young adults, male and female earn extra money by selling their ‘seeds’ to couples who pay, in the extreme case, in order to pay off their credit card bills. It used to be donor driven for medical experiment but it has become so common it is now a thriving industry.

Desperate times, as the saying goes, call for desperate measures. But desperate measures of today, makes the future generations more desperate.

Desperate move feels like seeds blowing in the wind...

...and shaping the population of future generation

Why Isn't the chicken cooked yet?

Husband: Why isn’t the chicken cooked yet?
Wife: Before we talk about the chicken, may I know why are you looking somewhere else when you are talking to me nowadays? You always look at me in the eyes sweetly when we were dating.

Husband: Don’t worry, I love you as always, in the office, I look at your picture on my desk.
Wife: But I am still alive at home. You can look at my picture all the time when I am dead.

Marriage is like a graveyard...
before we are dead,
sometimes we feel like we are already 6 feet under.

Husband: Ok honey, points taken. What about the chicken?
Wife: Oh, because it has not crossed the road yet.

In order not to be buried alive, we need to have sense of humour all the time to keep ourselves entertained and sane, otherwise we will be as dead as a roast chicken.