17 March, 2008

Instant Justice

I want to share an incident I saw today morning. One of my neighbors deflated tyres of the two cars which were parked in front of his house. I think he was kind enough to only show kindness to only one tyre. Why he did that? Because he has reserved four parking spaces for himself in front of his house gate although most of the times he parks his car inside & interestingly he only own a single vehicle.

I would like to point out the fact that only a couple of years ago you could park the car in any angle you want in our neighborhood but now many people who don't have the luxury of indoor parking struggle to find a vacant space.

Why I am posting this here? To highlight the fact that as the population of Dubai is growing, have you noticed any change in the attitude of people towards others? At least I have noticed that people have become more selfish, they lose tempers easily & hearts have become harder unlike before. Is this a price all "developed" countries also had to pay on their path towards economic "growth"?

Was he justified in his action? What would have been your action if you were in the place of the person who deflated the tyres, since I have explained the situation in the above paragraph. And how would you have felt if early in the morning on your way to work, if you were greeted by a deflated tyre?

15 comments:

Dubai Jazz said...

I know this is an unpleasant example to bring up; but studies have shown that mice living in crowded quarters tend to be more violent than the others.

I don’t think homo sapiens are much different.

Anonymous said...

I've had that happened to me - on 2 different ocassions. I even called up caps once when my wipers were broken and tires ( all 4) were punctured...

I was given a warning cos apparently some cop colleague lived there and i was disturbing him - and simply as a consolation I got the green insurance paper!

hut said...

Not sure about the local law, but e.g. under UK common law I believe parking on someone's reserved lot would constitute trespass, but deflating tyres in response would equally constitute a tort because it causes damages.

Call it quits.

Anonymous said...

It doesn't happened to me but to one of my friends when he got that and after he put nails in the front of the landlord gate :D:D

Fair enough, Isn't it ?

Anonymous said...

Do you mind telling us where this happened? Is this in the Arabian Ranches, Green Community, Sharjah?

Anonymous said...

I agree with the UK law. Anyone who parks in my space is trespassing. I'd simply call the cops and ask them to tow his car away.

Also, I get very hostile in crowded places. HELLO!! Personal space.

Anonymous said...

Wait a minute.....if the owner of the villa owns the land in front of his gate, then sure, anyone parking on that property is trespassing.

But if that land belongs to the government, then surely that's not trespassing, is it?

Anonymous said...

dubai jazz: True, homo sapiens are not much different :-)

anon @ 08:45: No comments :-)

Curious: Lol at the consolation green paper :-D

the real nick: I fully agree with you, retaliation means no difference between the two, both are equally guilty.

Spectrum Nails? Now that is quite an innovation :-D

Anon @ 13:26: It happened in Dubai, Al Wuhaida area.

fatima: Hostile in crowded places? You must be a very dangerous person :-)

anony-mouse: Of course the owner does not own the land, the parking spaces I am talking about are outside his villa's boundary. And I don't think he obtained permission from the municipality to reserve the spaces, he simply used yellow paint to warn people not to park there.

rosh said...

".....he simply used yellow paint to warn people not to park there"

DG: am sorry, your neighbour is A hole (and a 1/2). If I were you, I'd call DXB municipality and the cops on him - for he probably broke some DXB municipality law by painting on pedestrian sidewalk or a common spot.

Ugggh what a jerk!

Anonymous said...

Rosh: I agree with what you said, and I am sure he is not the only person in the city who matches the description you provided :-)

Mrs. Azucena said...

You guys are lucky. In Sharjah because we have so many refugees from Dubai, Abu Dhabi and everywhere else folks over here park on the side walk and drive down them as well. On top of that they look at you as if you have no right to be walking on them. Today, there was just a slive of pavement left, and since people were speeding down the road I took my daughters to walk on the sidewalk, but becuase a huge 4X4 had parked behind us there was no space and she fell. I looked at the driver who had a guilty look on his face.

I hate the attitudes and the lack of law that is going on. How many of those traffic guys are there walking up and down Jamal Abdu Nasser street? About 50 and still, people park like animals.

rosh said...

"How many of those traffic guys are there walking up and down Jamal Abdu Nasser street?"

Azucenamaryam: the poor traffic ticket "kids" aren't able to enforce much. I have seen jerks who park 4X4's like they own the pavement and multiple parking spots - chase, shout and in one instance, attempt to beat the traffic ticket cop.

When it comes to parking - SHJ is a refugee camp, unless you've got dedicated spots in your complex, villa or the neighbourhood has plenty of parking spots.

Jamal Abdul Nasser - was bad 10 years ago, it's got to be terrible now - Abu Shagara Part Deux.

Mme Cyn said...

Actually, DubaiGuy, I don't think the people in this town have become more selfish. I've been here ten years and have always remasrked on how bad mannered and bad tempered people--especially drivers-- are here... cutting into your lanes, driving up the hard shoulder, tailgating & flashing, and being piggy with the parking spaces.

It's just that there are so many more people here now and still no one has learned how to behave courteously around here.

Anonymous said...

azucenamaryam: The drivers who manage to park on the sidewalks in Sharjah should be fined for torturing their cars, if not anything else. I believe their height is at least double of what we have here in Dubai !!

Rosh: Which area of Sharjah is not bad when it comes to road planning & traffic management? These guys have still not learned their lessons, I see the same mistakes being repeated again & again. I think their only concern is that the scenery should look great when they film from a helicopter :-)

Mme Cyn: Ten years is a short time to judge people's behavior. Traffic manners have always been questionable but I am talking about the general trend among the population. And as far as my opinion is concerned, i blame it on the current economic "growth" which has produced abnormal inflation as well as a sharp reduction in the purchasing power ofthe people.

rosh said...

DG: am happy to hear someone echo (quite passionate) sentiments on SHJ's infrastructure. Man, we exist right next to DXB - which has world class highways, delicious bridges and what not. Yet - nothing seems to change with the Sharjawies, who continue to construct "gardens" - amongst other beautification projects, when the space (and more importantly funds) perhaps be used for better infrastructure expansion. As you drive into SHJ (from DXB) - can't help notice close proximity of buildings, often built right on the highway - there is just no room for expansion.

Personally, I think, traffic woes from AJ and SHJ to DXB is primarily given SHJ's clogged highways. One can feel the "liberation" and sensibility as you cross over to DXB.

I could go on. Here is a post from my blog.

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