Addenda

Looking at my previous post, I've just noticed how naive it is. There is a giant car culture out here; the problem is that I'm not clued into it. And never can be, for obvious reasons.
It chafes though. Some absolutely amazing feats have been achieved with automobiles out here, but there's no one to record it. Everything relies on the grapevine, oral history. Not good enough.

Meanwhile, we (the UAE) continue to consume new cars at a fantastic rate, more than any other Gulf country, putting further pressure on our overloaded roads and services. Yet there's no push for economy or lower emissions, or most importantly, better driving standards. Since no one cares enough - or thinks they will stay long enough - the snowball just keeps coming down the mountain.

I have to admit a twinge of conscience here. As much as I love cars - absolutely, positively, unrepentantly adore them - there is "too much" out here. The most expensive, desirable cars in the world, as common as a five year old diesel hatchback in Europe. And it is not meant to be this way. These cars, these super-cars, should lift your spirit when they pass by, fill you with dreams and wonder. When they are this common, it all ceases to have any meaning at all. And nobody - and I mean nobody - has earned the right to drive them.

Who am I? I'm just a poor man.