Taking a Bribe

Todd: When I was in Thailand I had experiences with bribery, and we don't really have it with government officials in the U.S., but I have to admit I thought it was really convenient, because let's say you are driving and you get a speeding ticket, or you do something wrong, in Thailand you would just pay ten dollars, twenty dollars and the whole incident was forgot. In my culture were brought up to think that that's really bad but I have to admit, I liked the fact that you would pay a little money, and then it was not on your record, because in the United States if you get a speeding ticket, or you do anything wrong then it's on your record, and it's permanent and that can affect your insurance payment and things like that, so it was this really weird feeling where I felt odd doing it, and I felt awkward doing it because it wasn't part of our culture, but at the same time I thought it was almost convenient. Have you ever had experiences like that?

Aiman: Well, I have two different experiences. Because in Syria it is pretty different to Dubai, so in Syria for example, you'd have to bribe the police officers even if you didn't do anything because that's how they live. But in Dubai they get really nice wages and they don't need your bribe. For example, once I was eating dates while I was driving. I was speaking on my phone, my mobile phone, and I was not wearing my seat belt, and I was not paying attention, and then the policeman asked me to pull over, and when I did, I didn't even know what was the problem, so when he came to me and said to me, "Can I have the car registration and license?" I said, "Yeah, sure. Please take one date, or a date, while I look for them." And he said, "No, sorry, I can't." And I was so upset with that. I said, "What do you mean you can't? Are you better than me? Is that what you're trying to say?" And he said, "No, It's illegal. I can't. You know what, just go. I don't need anything from you. Please go."

Todd: So the policeman in Dubai was very straight and honest. He can't except anything from a driver, and so he turned you down.

Aiman: Exactly. Because he turned me down, it is really bad in the Arab culture. He decided to just let me go. Please just go.

Todd: Really, so if somebody offers you something in an Arab culture, and you decline that's not polite.

Aiman: Not polite at all.

Todd: Well, that's very good to know.