Driving in Saudi

As many of you know, it’s illegal for women to drive here, and the natives take that very seriously. For example, say, hypothetically if you were out at a car dealership with your husband and decided to get into the driver’s seat of a show vehicle. You might find some unfriendly stares, and perhaps some children pointing at you, or the native Saudi who brought you to the dealership might suddenly disappear, or your husband might not say anything but get out of car with a funny look on his face. It could happen to you if you were silly enough to forget where you are, hypothetically speaking.

So to get around, every expat housewife has a driver, either one supplied by the compound they live on, their husband’s companies, or through some other reliable connection. Taxis are not really a safe option. You women might be outraged at the thought of not being able to drive, but I actually don’t mind it so much because the roads are so chaotic here that I would rather not risk my life on the roads to pick up spoons at the mall. I wish I could describe what goes on here, but I really can’t do it justice. Just think “Death Race 2000.” The trailer is on youtube, so check it out if you want to see the real Saudi Arabia.