Chapter FOUR
The Rolls Royce
Or
To Have and Have Not
Someday My Prince Will Come
What was once mine is still mine, even if I sell it to you.
The above three italicized lines aptly describe my experience of purchasing a luxury automobile in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The first is the title of a 1937
Ernest Hemingway novel (later a movie starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall) and the second is the title of a popular song from the Walt Disney animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. While the third statement lacks the fame of the other two, I soon came to understand it as the underlying sales philosophy in Saudi Arabia.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
As an American living in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, I had quickly learned two lessons:
Lesson #1. In relations between Saudis and non-Saudis, when something goes wrong, it is always the non-Saudi’s fault--no exceptions.
Lesson #2. Never trust a Saudi, especially when there is money involved.
The truth in these two lessons will become abundantly clear in this chapter.
Lesson #1: When something goes wrong, it is always your fault.
Once you entered the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, you were in their hands. They controlled your passport, and without your passport you could neither leave nor re-enter the Kingdom. As an individual, even if you worked for a large company, you were at their call, and they could kick you out of the Kingdom whenever they wanted, for any reason, usually within 72 hours If the Saudis didn’t like you personally, didn’t think you were doing a good job, didn’t think that your product was satisfactory, they could get rid of you just by making a couple of telephone calls.
You, as an individual, had no recourse. Even the United States Embassy wouldn’t intercede for an individual If the Saudis didn’t want you there, you were out of luck. If the company you worked for wanted to continue doing business in the Kingdom, it allowed its workers to be thrown out without so much as a formal complaint.
You were not considered as an individual dealing with a Saudi firm or a Saudi National. You were always considered an employee of a company or corporation and therefore had no say. Unless you were paid upfront for your contract or service, and had some governmental guarantee, you were at their mercy. Your only bit of clout was if you worked for a large company that was affiliated with your government, such as McDonnell Douglas Corporation, Boeing Corporation, Northrup Corporation, etc. T