self-service??! whatever next?
Living in Dubai can make you lazy. Actually no, scratch that, I think it is more accurate to say it most certainly does make you lazy. Not only do we have valet parking at every hotel, but you can also valet park your car at the shopping mall, the golf club and the hospital! And of course if you do happen to park your own car you can have it washed while you shop for less than 5 dollars. Inside the malls you can catch a ride on a golf buggy type thing if you really can’t find the strength to walk back to your car after all the shopping and lunching with friends. At some of the cinemas you can even order your nachos or pizza to be delivered to you during the movie.
Pretty much anything that has to be done from a red-tape point of view has a VIP option which allows you to pay more and sit on your behind whilst someone else queues for you and runs around getting hot and sweaty (well ok why not I say!). People take their maids along to the grocery store to manage the trolley, the food selection, the packing of the groceries into the car and of course to make sure the kids aren’t throwing tomatoes at each other. Not an easy task let me tell you based on what I have seen. Having domestic help is relatively cheap here and most stay-at-home mums will also have a full-time maid – well someone has to walk the dogs (*grin*).
The only time you really see some people getting involved and helping themselves is at brunch on a Friday.
self service petrol coming soon – image thanks to modernmechanix
So imagine my shock and horror this morning when I heard on the radio that 10 Eppco service stations in Dubai are going to become SELF SERVICE from July 4, between the hours of midnight and 6am. I have visions of people splashing fuel on themselves, blowing themselves up by smoking whilst filling up and all number of horrors. Imagine having to get out of your car to stand in the heat and pump gas (and yes it is hot even at night during Summer) and then having to walk into the store to pay. Madness!
According to Eppco no jobs will be impacted by this move (at this stage I reckon anyway – as this is part of a larger plan to introduce Self Service to more garages within their network in the future it sounds like it could impact them down the line). This part is no laughing matter and in my opinion reason enough to call off this insanity. That and the fact that I am a bit scared of having to pump my own gas, have only had to do this once or twice on vacation.
The stations identified for this revolutionary move are those “located along Al Wasl Road, Oud Metha Road, Shaikh Zayed Road coming from Abu Dhabi, Mankhool Road, Al Nahda Road, Nadd Al Hammar and Al Qusais, which have relatively low footfall during night hours” according to the newspaper.