Dubai

This is a city of the super rich and the super poor. You are unlikely to see a place where the divide between the "have nots" and the "have yachts" is so apparent. The local-born Emiratis, who make up about 12% of the population, are typically extremely wealthy, but the town was built on the backs of a huge working-class population predominantly from the Indian subcontinent and from less prosperous areas of the Gulf. Sitting between the two groups is a burgeoning band of expats, mostly from the West, who are profiting to varying degrees from the city's modern day Gold Rush.Last friday when I went to the gas station with Samy the judge(Alkadi),the young UAE citizen pulled to the gas station and lit up a cigarette in view of non smoking decals,i have promptly informed a Thai attendant of this situation ,but he said this is their country and 30 % of the customers smoke at the cars and he is afraid to make any comments and afraid of being hurt by this 12 %.Fortunately Samy has returned quickly enough from the station and stopped my divagations of being blown up at Dubai gas station.What a way to go.Maybe these guys know something about the risks of combining fire and gasoline that I don't, but I'm pretty sure that you're not supposed to smoke at a gas station.