HUMILIATED, INSULTED AND DEGRADED!

HEY EVERYONE,

PARDON ME FOR WRITING IN CAPS, BUT I HAVE BEEN HUMILIATED, INSULTED AND DEGRADED TODAY. I WENT TO THE "FUN DAY RACE" EVENT SPONSORED BY MCDONALDS, AND HERE IS A BLOW BY ACCOUNT OF EVERYTHING THAT WENT WRONG.

1--- THE MAP SAID THE START FOR THE 6KM WAS BEYOND THE TAWUN MALL. WHEN THE TAXI DROPPED ME THERE, I BUMPED INTO THREE FILIPINOS, WHO WERE ALSO LOOKING FOR THE START POINT. IT TURNED OUT THAT THE START POINT WAS BEFORE THE MALL AND NOT BEYOND THE MALL. WHOEVER MADE THE MAP SHOULD BE FIRED BECAUSE WE HAD TO WALK THE EXTRA KM AND GOT THERE LATE.

2--- SO WHEN WE FINALLY GET THERE, WE SEE BUS-LOADS UPON BUS-LOADS OF SCHOOL KIDS. THERE WERE ALSO FEMALE STUDENTS, COMPLETE IN HIJABS AND ABAYAS! ARE YOU TELLING ME YOU WILL RUN 6KM IN YOUR ABAYA IN THIS HEAT? I GIVE CREDIT TO THOSE WHO DID! SO, WE GO UP TO THE REFEREE, WHO UPON US PRODUCING THE PORTION OF OUR APPLICATION TO RECEIVE THE CAP AND TSHIRTS REFUSED TO TALK TO US. IN HIS THICK ARABIC ACCENT HE TOLD US "KHALAS! BAS!" I WAS INSULTED. I BEGAN LOSING MY MENTAL STATE OF MIND FOR RUNNING THE RACE.

3--- I TOOK MY PHONE OUT AND ASKED HIM FOR THE NUMBER OF THE ORGANIZER. HE REFUSED TO TALK TO ME. THE WHOLE TIME I WAS KEEPING MY COOL AND TALKING PATIENTLY WITH HIM. HE IN TURN WAS BEING RUDE AND MEAN WITH ME. I FINALLY FOUND SOMEONE WHO WAS ABLE TO TRANSLATE FOR ME, AND THIS SOMEONE TOLD ME THAT YOU CAN RUN AND AT THE DESTINATION YOU CAN GET YOUR REGISTRATION DONE AND BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE PRIZES. I WAS SKEPTICAL BUT I DECIDED TO DO IT ANYWAY.

4--- "YALLA!! SHABAAB!! YALLA!!" THANK GOD I KNOW ENOUGH ARABIC TO UNDERSTAND IT WAS TIME, AND I TOLD THE FILIPINOS TO JOIN IN. IF THIS RACE WERE MEANT FOR THE ARAB-SPEAKING PUBLIC, THEN THEY SHOULD HAVE TOLD US.

5--- SO THERE WERE FOUR GROUPS OF PEOPLE. (A) FEMALES WHO WERE ASKED TO STAND WAY BEHIND THE MEN (TALK ABOUT UNFAIR!) (B) PEOPLE LIKE ME AND THE FILIPINO WHO CAME HERE FOR FUN. (3) SCHOOL KIDS WHO WERE HERE TO HAVE FUN AND CREATE HAVOC. I OVERHEARD A CONCERNED INDIAN DAD TELL HIS TWO STICK-THIN SONS "SONS, PLEASE BE CAREFUL. THIS CROWD WILL GET ROWDY AND PUSH YOU AROUND!" (D) THE SERIOUS MARATHON RUNNERS, COMPLETE IN THEIR RUNNING SHORTS AND ALL. SO, I WAS THINKING "IS IT A FUN DAY RACE, OR IS A COMPETITIVE MARATHON RACE?"

6--- GUNSHOT! PEOPLE RAN AS IF THEIR SHORTS WERE ON FIRE! LOL! I WAS SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE. I THOUGHT I WOULD LET THESE TROUBLE MAKERS GET IN FRONT OF ME. I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW THEY WORK OUT WHO IS THE WINNER. SOMEONE AT THE FRONT OF THE RACE COULD BE RUNNING, AND SOMEON AT THE BACK COULD BE RUNNING AT THE SAME PACE, BUT THE ONE IN THE FRONT GET'S THERE FIRST BECAUSE HE WAS FRONT IN LINE. UNFAIR.

7--- SO WHILE WE WERE RUNNING, SOME OF THE RUNNERS WERE CHEATING AND GETTING CAR AND BUS RIDES TO GET TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE. EVEN THESE GIRLS WERE DOING IT. CHEATING! I WONDER IF THEY GOT THE FIRST PRIZE OR NOT. I MEAN, IF YOU KNOW YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO DO 6KM, DON'T. WHY RUN 6KM AND CHEAT IN THE MIDDLE?

8--- ALSO, THERE WERE NO PROVISIONS FOR ANY WATER OR DRINKS AT ANY POINT OF THE RACE. THERE WERE POOR STUDENTS WERE FALLING ALL OVER, HAND SIGNALLING THE AMBULANCE AND POLICE CARS TO GIVE THEM WATER. ALL THEIR PLEASE FELL ON DEAF EARS. LUCKILY I HAD MY BOTTLE OF WATER. THE FILIPINOS EVEN HAD THEIR BANANAS.

(The ambulance that was just going up and down, ignoring the runners who were falling all over the place. You can see the Coke stand, who charged money for the drinks at the end! Totally sad!)

9--- OK, SO WHILE I WAS RUNNING, THE CAMERA CREW WAS WHIZZING UP AND DOWN ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, WHICH WAS A SANDY AREA. SO WHEN HE WAS DRIVING UP AND DOWN SO FAST, HE WAS THROWING SAND AND DIRT INTO MINE AND OTHER RUNNERS' FACE. I DID NOT COME HERE TO RUN TO HAVE SAND AND DIRT THROWN INTO MY FACE. TOTALLY DEGRADING.

10--- THERE WERE NO PROPER MARKED DIRECTIONS. SOON, SOME OF THE RUNNNERS WERE RUNNING ON THE OTHER ROAD, WHICH MADE IT A SMALLER RUNNING DISTANCE FOR THEM. WHERE ARE THE AUTHORITIES TO CHECK ON THE CHEATING?

11--- HALF WAY THROUGH, WHEN I HAD DONE 3KM OF RUNNING, THERE WERE TWO INSPECTORS STANDING THERE. THEY WERE MARKING THE LIST. I STOPPED TO MAKE SURE I WAS ON THERE. "MAFI MANSUR." I LOST IT THEN. I REALIZED TALKING TO THESE CLUELESS, BRAINLESS ORGANIZERS WAS LIKE TALKING TO A THICK CONCRETE WALL. THE REFEREE EARLIER WAS LIKE EVEN THICKER THAN A CONCRETE WALL.

12--- SO I WALKED THE REST OF THE WAY. SOME OF THE RUNNERS STARTED SWIMMING IN THE LAGOON. SOME STARTED TO WADE IN THE WATER. WHAT KIND OF MARATHON IS THIS? SOON, I HEARD "YALLA!! YALLA!!" FROM BEHIND ME. A RUNNER TOLD ME I HAVE TO HURRY UP AND GET TO THE END BECAUSE THEY WANT TO PLEASE THE CHIEF GUESTS SITTING AT THE DESTINATION, SO WE HAVE TO MAKE IT ON TIME THERE SO HE DOESN'T FEEL THE HEAT. WHATEVER!

13--- SO I GET TO THE END. THERE ARE ALL THESE VIPS SITTING ON THE LEFT SIDE. THERE IS A GROUP OF UAE FEDERATION OF ARMY SITTING ON MY RIGHT SIDE. THEY LATER TURNED OUT TO BE A BAND.

14--- I WALK THROUGH THE FINAL GATE. "NO, YOU DON'T GET CERTIFICATE BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO NUMBER OR CAP!" BAS! I LOST ALL HOPE IN THIS PATHETICALLY ORGANIZED EVENT. I FELT INSULTED AND HUMILIATED. I RAN 3KM, WALKED BRISKLY FOR 3KM AND I AM NOT APPRECIATED FOR MY EFFORTS, WHILE ALL THESE CHEATING GUYS WERE WALKING AROUND WITH THEIR CERTIFICATES.

15--- SO DRINKS WERE THERE AT THE END. THANK GOD. WHAT? I HAVE TO PAY FOR THEM!!!! FORGET IT MAN! THIS IS WHAT I GET AFTER 6KM!

16--- THE WHOLE PRIZES CEREMONY WAS HELD IN ARABIC WITH ALL THE AHMEDS AND MOHAMMADS WINNING THE PRIZES. IT WAS TOTALLY INSULTING, EVEN FOR THE FILIPINOS. THE ARABIC GUY WHO TOLD ME AT THE BEGINNING THAT I WILL GET MY THING AT THE END WAS EMBARRASSED HIMSELF.

(The prize-giving ceremony. I was told 3000 people signed up. Does this pic show 3000 people? Hardly!)

SO TO CUT IT SHORT, I FELT INSULTED, HUMILIATED AND DEGRADED IN ALL WAYS POSSIBLE. I WENT TO MCDONALDS IN THE EVENING AND TALKED TO THE REGIONAL MANAGER HIMSELF. HE APOLOGIZED AND APOLOGIZED TO ME. HE EVEN SAID HE WILL GIVE ME THE CAP AND THE TSHIRT. I TOLD HIM THE ISSUE IS NOT ABOUT THE CAP AND TSHIRT BUT ABOUT HOW I WAS TREATED THERE.

HE CLARIFIED TO ME THAT MCDONALDS WERE CO-SPONSORS, THE REAL SPONSORS WERE THE UAE ATHLETICS FEDERATION. I REALIZED THEN THAT I HAD TOO HIGH OF MY HOPES TO EXPECT SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE AND MEANINGFUL FROM THIS ORGANIZATION.


(If I could do ANYTHING to strangle this Ronald McDonald guy, I would! I need a gun! I need some heavy artillery machines! I need to drive something through him to make him go through what I went through!)

SURE ALL THE SCHOOL KIDS HAD THEIR SHARE OF FUN, OF CHEATING, GOING IN THE WATER, GETTING THE CERTIFICATES AND TROPHY, BUT PEOPLE LIKE ME AND THE FILIPINOS WERE FEELING TOTALLY INSULTED. IS THIS THE WAY YOU ARE TREATED, WITH IGNORANCE AND HUMILIATION?

I SHALL BE COMPLAINING ABOUT THIS EVENT TO ALL THE NEWSPAPERS IN DUBAI AND SHARJAH, AND WILL PERSONALLY TALK TO MR. DAHEM OF THIS ORGANIZATION TO GET AN EXPLANATION FOR SUCH BLATANT HUMILIATION.

TO TOP IT OFF, MY TAXI RIDE HOME TOOK ME PAST THIS PLACE WHERE IT SAYS IN FLOWERS: SMILE YOU ARE IN SHARJAH!

YEAH RIGHT!


This was the only comforting thing- to reflect on nature, and be in amazement of the God who created such wonderful moments, which are more powerful than the pathetic moments I went through in the race!)

(Oh, also, just so you know, Sharjah has the Sharjah Eye, taken from the London Eye. It looks very impressive, but it isn't that popular!)

MANSUR