Typical Doha issue:
As you may recall, in the beginning of the school year, we started our own private bus to take the children to school. Once we got things going, I went to the security stations who guard the entrance into a big private area where our school happens to be located and explained that the bus would be coming, and we made a special sign to remind them of this fact, which I showed to the guards. I also left my name and number so they could call me if they had any questions. And everything went smoothly.
Fast forward until now: two weeks ago, a new, huge, labyrinthian road construction project was unveiled along the road to school. Luckily, the majority of the construction was taking place at the roundabout just beyond the school turn-off, so we thought we were okay. (We should have known better--if I could show you the map of how this supposed improvement project looks, you would have to laugh!) However, as more and more people realized that this roundabout construction was really inconvenient, they began to try to cut through our little enclosed area, which sent the security guards and the powers that be into an absolute tizzy. So, the guards started cracking down, only allowing folks through who had the proper ID tags. But we were assured by the school that as long as we told them we were trying to get to our school, we would be allowed to pass.
And for one week, our bus went right on doing what it had always done, traveling the same route it has been traveling for months, until last week, when the afternoon security guards (not the morning ones, just the afternoon shift, of course, because consistency is not ever a problem here) decided they really didn't want to let the bus in to pick up the kids after school any more. Our bus driver (who is from Sri Lanka) called me in a tizzy of his own trying to explain what was happening and asking me to solve the problem.
So, first, I printed out new signs with the school's logo and the hospital's logo to put in the bus windows, since perhaps the old signs were bothering them for some reason. Next, I contacted the school to see if they had some idea for a solution and was told that there were now going to be vehicle tags available for family drivers or alternate vehicles like ours...but they weren't ready quite yet. So in the meantime, I contacted a friend of mine who had tried to recreate such a tag temporarily while he was waiting for his (just in case--though of course I don't condone forgery!). Finally, I decided to go visit the guards personally, with my own ID tag, and talk to the new guards all over again (at least the afternoon shift). Which I did. And they were very apologetic, of course, and extremely worried because no one ever gets out of the car to come and talk to these men personally, let alone a woman, and they assured me the bus would always be allowed through. Just to be sure, I spoke to one of the powerful secretaries at school who just that day had been stopped and questioned at the gate because she was driving her husband's car, even though she still had the proper vehicle tag with her and she was so incensed that our bus was being stopped that she promised to take "immediate action" which was so unusual to hear I almost didn't understand what she was saying! Apparently, I caught her on a day when she was feeling decisive!
And then, a few days later, I was told I could go to school to get a new vehicle tag for the bus, taken out in my name, which meant they needed a copy of my Qatar ID as well as the driver's Qatar ID (nothing happens here without this identification, and even then only sometimes), which meant I needed to wait an hour at the school to get his ID, but I persevered and emerged triumphantly with said vehicle tag AND yet another promise that if we had any trouble at all, it would be resolved rapidly.
And all of this only took me two whole weeks, which is, in fact, lightening speed for fixing problems here...which yes, makes one miss the good old days of only waiting a few hours at the DMV or having to wait 24 hours for an appointment with a manager or taking a whole day to register for college classes. These are days (weeks, months) when American bureaucracy seems positively spry!
As you may recall, in the beginning of the school year, we started our own private bus to take the children to school. Once we got things going, I went to the security stations who guard the entrance into a big private area where our school happens to be located and explained that the bus would be coming, and we made a special sign to remind them of this fact, which I showed to the guards. I also left my name and number so they could call me if they had any questions. And everything went smoothly.
Fast forward until now: two weeks ago, a new, huge, labyrinthian road construction project was unveiled along the road to school. Luckily, the majority of the construction was taking place at the roundabout just beyond the school turn-off, so we thought we were okay. (We should have known better--if I could show you the map of how this supposed improvement project looks, you would have to laugh!) However, as more and more people realized that this roundabout construction was really inconvenient, they began to try to cut through our little enclosed area, which sent the security guards and the powers that be into an absolute tizzy. So, the guards started cracking down, only allowing folks through who had the proper ID tags. But we were assured by the school that as long as we told them we were trying to get to our school, we would be allowed to pass.
And for one week, our bus went right on doing what it had always done, traveling the same route it has been traveling for months, until last week, when the afternoon security guards (not the morning ones, just the afternoon shift, of course, because consistency is not ever a problem here) decided they really didn't want to let the bus in to pick up the kids after school any more. Our bus driver (who is from Sri Lanka) called me in a tizzy of his own trying to explain what was happening and asking me to solve the problem.
So, first, I printed out new signs with the school's logo and the hospital's logo to put in the bus windows, since perhaps the old signs were bothering them for some reason. Next, I contacted the school to see if they had some idea for a solution and was told that there were now going to be vehicle tags available for family drivers or alternate vehicles like ours...but they weren't ready quite yet. So in the meantime, I contacted a friend of mine who had tried to recreate such a tag temporarily while he was waiting for his (just in case--though of course I don't condone forgery!). Finally, I decided to go visit the guards personally, with my own ID tag, and talk to the new guards all over again (at least the afternoon shift). Which I did. And they were very apologetic, of course, and extremely worried because no one ever gets out of the car to come and talk to these men personally, let alone a woman, and they assured me the bus would always be allowed through. Just to be sure, I spoke to one of the powerful secretaries at school who just that day had been stopped and questioned at the gate because she was driving her husband's car, even though she still had the proper vehicle tag with her and she was so incensed that our bus was being stopped that she promised to take "immediate action" which was so unusual to hear I almost didn't understand what she was saying! Apparently, I caught her on a day when she was feeling decisive!
And then, a few days later, I was told I could go to school to get a new vehicle tag for the bus, taken out in my name, which meant they needed a copy of my Qatar ID as well as the driver's Qatar ID (nothing happens here without this identification, and even then only sometimes), which meant I needed to wait an hour at the school to get his ID, but I persevered and emerged triumphantly with said vehicle tag AND yet another promise that if we had any trouble at all, it would be resolved rapidly.
And all of this only took me two whole weeks, which is, in fact, lightening speed for fixing problems here...which yes, makes one miss the good old days of only waiting a few hours at the DMV or having to wait 24 hours for an appointment with a manager or taking a whole day to register for college classes. These are days (weeks, months) when American bureaucracy seems positively spry!
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