Speaking of Fiascos, Here's One of Note

Every day in Dubai brings a new fiasco. I started a post called fiasco of the day and was planning to add a new one every day. However, I soon bored of this effort as not all were noteworthy. Moreover, if one tries, as is wise, not to dwell on these unpleasant incidents, one is soon overtaken by the next and the prior one fades from memory. Even so, a few stick out so much that they warrant further notoriety. So, let's get this started with the fiasco of the safe (as requested by my bookish friend and follower, Nancy).

The story starts on Thursday, October 8 at 8:30 am. In fifteen minutes Mr. Neal (as he is called in Dubai) needs to deliver a big check for our new apartment. (As noted previously, rent in Dubai is payable a full year in advance, just in case you were thinking of leaving the landlord in the lurch.) The checkbook and passports are in the hotel safe. When Mr. Neal goes to open it, his secret code doesn't work. (He is positive he has the right code, by the way, since he uses the same one for everything.) Many tries later, a very frustrated Mr. Neal calls the concierge for help. A hotel employee soon appears with an electronic gizmo and tries to open the safe many, many times without success. Then the employee tells Mr. Neal that two days earlier the safe had been found open by the hotel maintenance staff when they came in for a routine call. He said the employee who found the safe open took an inventory of the contents, closed it and filed a report on the incident. Amazingly, no one thought to tell us about this! As it turned out, closing the safe rendered Mr. Neal's secret code inoperable, causing the current dilemma.

Seconds and minutes tick by as Mr. Neal harangues the hotel employee and his incompetence in failing to open the safe. Miss Pam (as I am called) hides in the bathroom after catching a glimpse of the now miserable employee being subjected to harsh verbal lashing, words indecipherable but meaning clear. The employee then tries again, and suddenly Mr. Neal's tone of voice softens. I emerge to find the safe is open! However, while our passports and emergency cash are indeed safe in the safe, the checkbook and several blank checks previously signed by Mr. Neal for Miss Pam's convenience now appear to be missing. Hotel employee wisely decides his job is done and makes a mad dash to leave.

Without the human buffer, recriminations now commence directly against Miss Pam, with Miss Pam being accused of 1) leaving the safe open (who else? certainly not Mr. Neal!), 2) leaving blank checks lying around, and 3) losing blank checks and, indeed, the entire checkbook. An immediate search of the premises by Miss Pam (Mr. Neal is too busy haranguing) uncovers a small pile near Mr. Neal's laptop that proves to be the missing checkbook and blank checks. Proximity to Mr. Neal's laptop and fact of Miss Pam's never having thought to use safe are extremely suggestive of Mr. Neal's guilt in the entire matter, but Miss Pam wisely remains silent. Time of discovery: 8:43 a.m. Time of appointment with agent to deliver check: 8:45 a.m. Despite a longish elevator ride from the 52nd floor (for which the elevator sometimes apologizes, "sorry to keep you waiting"), we meet our agent as planned.

No worries, as the Aussies like to say. In Arabic, the expression "mafie mushkila" seems more appropriate. It translates as "no problem," but they say that when you hear it you can most definitely assume that this is NOT the case.

Even better: all's well that ends well.