Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1997-04-23, Page 5Arthur Black THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23,1997 PAGE 5. Rough times for Samaritans You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you cannot know how soon it will be too late Ralph Waldo Emerson We all want to have a reputation for generosity And we'd all like to buy it cheap Anon I've been thinking what a rough ride we'd give the Good Samaritan if he was unwise enough to show up nowadays. For anyone whose Bible lore is rusty, the Good Samaritan was the subject of a New Testament parable. Basically he was the only guy who bothered to stop and help a man who had been held up and savagely mugged by thieves. "Good Samaritan" has come to be a term that we bestow on anyone who shows generosity or compassion towards the poor and downtrodden. And it's a term that you don't hear a whole lot these days. It's certainly not a term that would spring to the lips of Sylvia Stayton, of Cincinnati, Ohio. Not if she was looking for ways to describe municipal court Judge John West. Ms Stayton, a grandmother, was hauled up in court before the judge for a pre-trial hearing recently. Her lawyer was seeking dismissal of Mlnternational Scene By Raymond Canon Some things never change I recently had lunch with a good friend of mine who has spent the better part of a decade in Saudi Arabia working in a highly specialized field. Since his time far exceeds that which I spent there when I was trying to drum up business for Canadian firms, I was extremely interested to hear what he had to say about the Saudi way of life and, more importantly, if there had been any significant changes in the wake of the Gulf War. The thoughts which follow here are his although I must admit that, based on what I already knew of the country, I was not really surprised at what he had to tell me. To give you a bit of background, Saudi Arabia is a member of OPEC and currently the largest producer of oil in the world. It has a relatively small population and thus has to depend on outside help for everything from menial labour to doctors and other specialists. However, the arrival of hundreds of thousands of foreign troops to counter the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait had a profound shock on the Saudis, especially as the foreign way of life was remarkably different from the ultra­ conservative brand of Islam practiced by the majority of the Saudi people. On the one hand the presence of a large number of troops was necessary to deter Saddam Hussein from overrunning Saudi Arabia; on the other hand it was both disturbing and embarrassing to the Saudis to have to be subjected to a different way of life. Perhaps one of the most disturbing aspects was to see females in foreign military service since Saudi females are most decidedly not equal to males. They are not allowed to drive cars; they must wear veils and black clothing and are subservient to their husbands. In a country where even Playboy is banned, you the charges. The judge said no way. Ms Stayton will stand trial for obstruction and disorderly conduct. And what did this wild-eyed harridan do to get cited? Lie down in front of the mayor's limousine? Burn her bra on the Cincinnati courthouse steps? Nah. Sylvia Stay ton was charged when she put 15 cents into two expired parking metres. She was trying to do a good turn for the drivers of the cars, neither of whom she knew. A Cincinnati cop who was writing out a ticket for one of the cars ordered her to stop feeding the metre. She refused and I guess .she might go to jail as a result. The judge will issue a ruling next week. Then there's Ron Seaward's tale of woe. Seaward was driving from Toronto to London, Ontario recently when she spied a car in the ditch. Seaward, feeling conspicuously Good Samaritanish, pulled over and got out to help. As did an Ontario Provincial Policeman. While the cop and Seaward were grunting and straining at the back bumper of the stuck car, several other vehicles cranged into Seaward’s truck and the police cruiser. Naturally, the officer now has to write out an accident report. Naturally, he has to see everybody's license and registration - including Seaward's. Which is when the cop notices that Seaward has been driving with an expired license. Well...a violation, to be sure, but under the circumstances - Seaward being such a decent can imagine the shock of seeing female soldiers and flyers for the first time. There were sighs of relief all round when the war was won and the soldiers departed. Those that remained were shunted off as far away from the Saudis as possible. One little vignette is worth telling. If there is a traffic accident between a Saudi and a foreigner, the latter is almost always in the wrong, regardless of the real cause. If the driver of the foreign car is one whose role is that of menial labourer, he has no chance whatsoever of being found innocent. If the foreign driver is in an essential occupation, some mitigating circumstances may be found so he is not found totally guilty or, in extreme cases, not found guilty at all. Since the Saudi driver is never guilty, it is an Arab example of no-fault insurance. Needless to say, car insurance is a rarity for Saudi drivers. There is no doubt which is the state religion. The Saudis are totally Moslems and there is no room whatsoever for other religions such as Christianity. You will not see a Christian church since there are none. Any Christian service must be organized in what can only be described as a clandestine manner. The word Christian is not even mentioned on the phone since it could well be that the phones are tapped. If you are going to hold any kind of Christian service or fellowship, invitations have to be issued to a "coffee party" or something of that nature. The death penalty is still very much in evidence. At periodic intervals it is carried out in the form of public beheadings. Sentences for lesser crimes such as theft are also public with the chopping off of hands. Public executions run into the high double-digit figures annually and it could well be that more are carried out within the confines of the prisons. Penalties are not arbitrary. It is written down that crimes such as murder, rape, and drug trafficking are punishable by death. chap and all - undoubtedly the cop will let Seaward off with a wink and a warning, right? Not. Seaward, who was only acting on an impulse of kindness and generosity towards a fellow human being in a jam, finds himself with a strained back, a banged-up truck and a $315 traffic ticket. Guess how fast he'll pull over the next time he sees a motorist in difficulty. Sad, but true, the streets are getting meaner. Still, Ron Seaward can look on the bright side - at least he didn't have to be helped by a politician. There's a story going around about a travelling salesman on a business trip to Ottawa who one night was robbed, beaten up, thrown in a ditch, and left for dead. The first person to come by was a Reform Party MP. She looked down at the man and snapped, "Get up on your feet! Stop feeling sorry for yourself! Be a man!" And she walked on. Next came an NDP supporter. He gasped in dismay at the sight of the poor guy in the ditch. "This is terrible!" he wailed. "I must find the people who did this! They need psychiatric help and career counselling!" And off he ran. The next passer-by was a Liberal cabinet minister. He stopped in front of the injured man, looked around to make sure no one was watching, then he knelt down by the side of the man and whispered, "What did the other two say?" With such large oil revenues, the Saudi government has certainly raised the standard of living of its citizens over the past 25 years; perhaps it has raised it too quickly. Many jobs are considered to be beneath the dignity of the citizens; such jobs are carried out by foreign workers. Not surprisingly, there is a bloated public service; that is, after all, one of the safest places to find work for Saudis. If you are looking for an alcoholic drink or entertainment western style, forget it. In such an ultra-conservative society, that is most definitely not on the books. After all, just consider the role that women play to which I referred above and you will see why this is a natural assumption. If you want a "good time", go elsewhere i.e. to Europe or even Egypt. That is precisely what affluent Saudis do. Finally, do not mention the word Israel in any favourable context when talking with the Saudis. This word is most definitely taboo. At the end of our conversation my friend observed that he certainly appreciated the opportunity offered him by the Saudi government to practice his skills. He was treated fairly; he had the best of equipment with which to work and it was due to his reception that he stayed the number of years that he did. Since all his children live in or close to London, it is, he admits, nice to be home. As for my original question as to changes in the wake of the Gulf War, he replied that it did not change anything at all with the exception of the backlash of the Islamic fundamentalists, something the Saudis would like to do without. A Final Thought In its concern with left and right the world has forgotten that there is an above and below. The A chapter in the book For as far back as I can recall when I first began thinking of my future, I knew the one thing I wanted was to work on a community newspaper. No grandiose ideas or desires for fame and fortune could inspire me to reach further, no drive for in-depth investigative reporting or uncovering the deviant and mysterious pushed me. International intrigue, war zones or corrupt corporations didn't, it seemed to me, have anything to do with my unadulterated pleasure in writing. I was an idealistic youth; I wanted to believe that the world was a better place than the bigger picture painted. My sense that the mayhem and sadness I would view through the lens of a small town reporter's camera would be less affecting, less intense, was naive. However, working on a community newspaper is, like any other medium, about telling the story. It's about real people and their lives. This means triumphs and tragedies. It means winners and losers, good guys and bad guys. It's about achievements and failures, about happy endings or mistakes that haunt you forever. They are all evident during one of my least enjoyable tasks, covering court. It is a beat that has brought conflicting feedback from some of our readers, as well. There are those who believe strongly that the public has a right to know who the lawbreakers are, while the other faction is equally vehement in its desire to keep perversity out of our nice' friendly' community newspaper. I am a reluctant member of the former group. Keeping the public informed about the happenings in court is not, contrary to the thinking of some, strictly about public notoriety for the baddies. It is also about making real people aware of the costs involved in making mistakes. While obviously there are those who appear in court on numerous occasions, the majority are not unlike the rest of us in most ways except for one simple fact — bad luck. Let's face it — many people have driven with a few more beers under their belt than the law would allow, but good fortune got them home uneventfully. Good fortune, too, though it may not be seen this way so clearly, is the only difference between a drunk driving charge and a drunk driving causing death charge. I have seen lives of otherwise everyday citizens damaged by one second's poor judgement. A young man caught necking with a 14-year-old girl. A sudden burst of temper that ended a future in law and security for another. Families ravaged by tragic loss, young people marked by a moment spent in the wrong company. There are those abysmal wretches who keep showing up in that courtroom time and again. And on the right side, the lawmakers who work, often thanklessly, for order and justice. It was a fascination with people, with what drives, what molds them, and a desire to write their stories, that drew me to this job. While ideally it's nice to hear about those who shape their lives positively, the sad sagas of court can be equally compelling. Why do some feel remorse while others care less? Why do some easily uncover and utilize their gifts, while others search aimlessly to find theirs? To really know our communities we need the whole story. The courtroom dramas may not be pleasant, but they have their heroes and their lessons. They are a chapter in life's book.