Hosts and Guests

Hosts and Guests

The role of a host and its guests is one of the basic things we learn in our up bringing, maybe some more than others. The role of a host is to welcome its guests with open arms, make them feel comfortable and relaxed. The guest’s job is to be a perfect guest by following the host’s rules and helping out whenever they can. Although this is common sense and almost everyone around the world know it, they neglect to apply it in their daily life. I am not talking about visiting your friends’ house or neighbors. Looking at it in a broader perspective, when someone visits a different country the same rules apply, you are a guest and the country is a host.

It saddens me to see some foreigners here in the UAE neglecting to apply what they learned growing up when they would gladly apply those rules visiting a friend or a neighbors house

The UAE has been and will be a great host, since the becoming of the United Arab Emirates the open door policy was very clear, everyone is welcome in this land whether its for a long term stay or a short vacation. The United Arab Emirates through its people are big in hospitality, it is part of our culture to be nice to guests to welcome them with open arms and hearts and make their stay as comfortable as possible. This openness and generosity unfortunately was not always understood that it comes with the guest’s ability or willingness to respect the laws, regulation and the people of this country.

The UAE is very tolerant when it comes to different cultures and religions. But in return we need to feel that this tolerance is appreciated. The lack of respect from certain foreigners towards the culture and religion of the UAE seems to be expanding. They break the law knowingly and expect to get away with it. When they are caught and brought to court, they start playing the victim role and complaining about injustice.

Lets take the infamous British couple that were caught by the beach for indecency. They were breaking the law - back in Britain what they did was against the law – yet the policemen were nice enough to let them go with a warning assuming they weren’t aware of their act. They then out of arrogance kept on breaking the law and therefore were arrested following international standards in police work.  The next few weeks the whole of Britain’s newspapers, magazines and tabloids had only one story. How they were victims of a strict unforgiving country. How is this fair?

Another example of being a bad guest and disrespecting culture and religion is the constant complain of the call for prayers. Claiming that it is loud and disruptive. The call for prayers is one of the things that wont change. In some parts of Europe the church bells are audible during weekends early morning yet no one complained about them.

Another thing that bothers me sometimes is the constant reference to how life is better back home. The water is better, the food is better, the weather is better, the traffic is better, the laws are better and so it goes. I understand the fact that they are probably home sick, and it is hard to be away from your home for a long time. However, out of respect to the host you don’t complain about everything they do, if there is something really wrong then you can point it out politely without being rude.

A host cannot be a gracious host if the guest is obnoxious, a host cannot be welcoming if the guest is disrespectful in order for everyone to be happy both parties should follow the etiquette of being a host and a guest. For it always takes two to tango.