Qatar is a country of service providers from all walks of life. People are living here to provide services in their area of expertise. Most businesses have pretty good customer service. Here, it’s uncommon for a business to employ poorly prepared or rude staff. Our building management goes above and beyond to satisfy the tenants. Almost all restaurants train their waiters and waitresses to excel in pleasing their customers.  

A great majority of these service providers fall in the lower income bracket, and they support families back in their home countries. They need to be treated with respect and courtesy. I really pride myself on treating service providers with the utmost courtesy, i.e. maids, waiters, grocery store workers, delivery people. If my food order is late or the wrong food is sent, I am okay with the delivery person and tip him regardless of the mishap. If the restaurant service is poor, I feel for the service staff. If the maid makes a mistake, I am totally chill with her.

However, almost all of us feel strongly about a particular issue. I know I have no patience for less than perfect cab drivers. It’s one area where I lose my cool and end up having a temper tantrum. It’s a pet peeve, but it’s difficult not to be upset. Mostly, Uber or Careem service in Qatar is good, but occasionally a driver will show up late and cannot understand directions, get lost, or take a longer route to hike up the bill.  One common issue is when a driver shows up late, or the arrival time will keep increasing while waiting on a sidewalk. On more than one occasion, I have been less than polite with the wayward driver. It’s a real mystery to my kids that any mishap by any service provider leaves me feeling sorry for the worker, but I cannot tolerate any misstep by a cab driver. I guess I do not consider the drivers an oppressed population, and they do not bring out the “mommy instinct” in me. Although after every outburst, I feel guilty and apologize.  I bet we all have those issues where we are less than perfect, which makes us go nuclear.