If we residents of the UAE are not careful, the day will come when we will have to always pump gas ourselves. No more attendants rushing forward with a smile and asking what our needs are (yes, they still do that at some stations). No longer will we have the choice of filling it ourselves at the only self-service pump as an experiment; the experiment will be over and it will always be self-service. And that will be the thin end of the wedge, the slippery slope, a downward spiral - or any other metaphor of similar meaning.
Why, next they could have us wash and polish our own cars, or fill supermarket shelves or even - horror of horrors! - get up at six in the morning to collect our own newspapers from the publisher. Hopefully realisation will set in before we are all compelled to sweep the streets clear of garbage (although if we did, it may encourage us to be tidier).
My reason for this cynicism is that it is becoming increasingly more difficult for middle to lower income people to live in the UAE. Aside from the high cost of basic foodstuff, finding affordable accommodation anywhere is nearly impossible. Many hundreds of people earn much less than Dh5,000 a month - and it's not just labourers on building sites or roads who, anyway, are usually provided with basic living quarters and even more basic foodstuff. Their wages can be less than Dh2,000 a month, and in many cases, even less than Dh1,000 a month. But, surprisingly, it could be said they are "better off" than people earning two or three times that because they do not pay for their living quarters or food.
(When I say better off, I shall overlook the often poor living conditions they have to suffer or the long arduous hours they are compelled to work in all weathers, including over 40 degrees centigrade - conditions no office worker could ever work in.)
The people who will suffer most are the large number of middle-class - although it is very difficult in the UAE to determine exactly what comprises the middle class. It used to be thought that anyone earning between Dh7,500 and Dh10,000 was in the middle to upper-middle income bracket, but as many people will readily agree, those sums are no longer upper-middle income salaries, but lower-middle - a dramatic change in economic reality. What has brought about this change is the price of property, rented or purchased.
A studio flat, for example, which has very limited space is suitable for only one person, will get a rent of between Dh60,000 to Dh90,000 a year. That represents between Dh5,000 and Dh7,500 a month - a sum which equates with the salaries of many white-collar workers. Yet it is these people who are being penalised for living in shared accommodation, whether it is in a flat or a villa.
Unpleasant
It is often unpleasant to live so closely to complete strangers with whom you may have nothing in common. It not only puts a strain on the utilities supplied to the accommodation, but can present a dangerous risk in case of fire. It is for these last two reasons that municipalities are clamping down on shared accommodation. Yet it is still done in an attempt to find somewhere affordable to live, to retain employment in the UAE. But the penalty for dividing up a flat or villa and renting part of it is severe if caught.
However, it is one thing to exhort tenants to abide by the rulings and not share accommodation, it is quite another to ensure there is adequate alternatives available to those being chucked out on the streets.
For many years I have seen incidents where blue-collar workers and low-paid white collar workers have been forced out of their "bachelor accommodation" - also known as shared accommodation - and compelled to live away from their place of work. The fact that it may entail an extra couple of hours travelling each end of their day, seems not to worry anyone. And why should it? After all, what the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't grieve over.
But the time will come, and it may be sooner than we think, when we will determine it is not worth all the hassle working for a minimal salary and paying most of it on a mere subsistence living. And when that time comes, we'd all better watch out, for it is then that we will have to go back to basics and do the chores ourselves.
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