Searching For Blamericans

At the hospital for the first time. My wife is very sick and has been for weeks so off we went halfway through the school day. We went to a place where men are allowed and lo and behold - I finally saw another black (American) dude! 7 months in and it took me going to the hospital to see one. Now, there were other times I thought I saw one, but I didn't hear him speak so I couldn't confirm. My wife said she did but that's secondhand. I've heard of others who've been at ex-pat community gatherings, but like I said, none of that was first hand. Now of course, just because he sounded black, wore yellow...wait, hold up. I never told you what the "black American dude test" was. Here, many dudes look black American for the most part, but, as ignorant as this may sound, you can look closely and see some African features and tell they aren't. When their features and demeanour seem black American, there is always a test - the feet. The dudes here don't really wear sneakers. None of them. It's sandals if they aren't at work or stepping out, shoes otherwise. If they are engaged in an athletic endeavour, then you'll see sneakers, but nothing crazy at all, like you see back home. This test has never failed us. So, as I'm trained to look straight at the feet, I looked down at dude's shoes and I see YELLOW CONSTRUCTION TIMS. In the desert. Gotta be a brotha. Jeans and tims. Haircut and outfit checked out, as did the facial features and most importantly, the voice. Now of course, he could've been Canadian, born in Africa (or ANYWHERE else) and grew up in America, or just SOUND pretty American. But the 2 white chicks he was with also sounded American. So I drew a conclusion. Still, I can't really definitively say I've met another's here.

Not like I'm trying too hard though, haha.

Now, this next dude just came through with shorts, ankle socks and sneakers. Very blamerican, But for some reason, the choice in sneakers, the clarity of the skin (I've noticed that non-American blacks usually have better skin the black Americans - I have my theories), the way the clothes matched, I just don't think he's black American. But I could be dead wrong, of course.

I'm sorry for generalising, but Qataris can be SO RUDE. And the Filipino service people have this cold efficiency, so it makes a trip to a municipal building a tough time - if you're not white or Qatari. The white women get treated with care and attention here, while my wife has to get in everyone's face every step of the health care process. She is as sick as she's been since I've known her (there's a virus spreading throughout the school) and this can't be making her any better. Btw, it was a BLACK Qatari who first gave her rude service. They seem to think "coming to work" and "doing your job" are two separate things.

They give free tea and coffee at the hospital. Lots of tea in this country. Always with milk, which I never liked until coming here, but now I love it.

That's the kind of boring minutiae I hate people spending long amounts of time talking to me about.


Check out these BOSS-ass seats they got at the hospital.