A Woman's Experiences of Respect for Women and Families in Saudi Arabia

I want to talk about things that happen to me here in Saudi Arabia.

They’re unusual. What happens isn’t normal.

But I just want to talk about them. Look, everyone, I feel like women here are held in high regard.

I mean, I feel they’re treated specially and respected here.

I could tell you about something that happened.

It might seem trivial to people. And maybe they’d say, “Just get off already.”

But I want to tell you about it. I want to say this.

Once, I was heading up to our hotel, the one I’m currently staying at.

Some people were coming down from the fifth floor.

I was on the third floor, and they were coming down. Okay.

So I pressed the elevator button because I wanted to get on.

And what did they do? When they saw me, they went up. They were coming down.

I was supposed to wait for them. They got out of the elevator and let me get on.

They were two grown men. Honestly, that’s something that people might think is normal.

But it’s one of those things where you think, what?

They could’ve just come down. I would’ve waited.

I mean, you were already coming down anyway.

That happened right in front of me. There was a guy in a car with his family. Okay.

I was sitting just like I am sitting here on the promenade.

By the way, this is a promenade. Anyway, I was sitting just like this.

And this one incident happened right in front of me.

I mean, he slammed on the brakes all of a sudden. Okay.

And his family was with him. So the guy behind him was also coming fast.

So he was about to hit him. Then he got out to argue.

Like, “Why did you stop?” or “That’s no way to stop,” or something. I mean— He got out as soon as he saw his family. Okay.

Of course, he got out. I could see he was tense.

You know what I mean? As soon as he saw his family was with him, he went over. “Are you all okay?”

“Okay, you’ve got, I mean…” “Go on, may God make it easy for you.”

“May God get you there,” I mean, “go.” You know?

These things really move me, everyone. I don’t know. I mean, these things might seem trivial.

But, I mean, it’s like— You know, family—and women especially—are off-limits.

It’s like— It’s not okay to argue in front of them.

It’s not okay for them to have to wait. It’s not okay for them to— No, it’s not okay. It’s not okay.

So honestly, I really like this part here.

Because here in Saudi Arabia, they truly respect family and women.

Family is sacred to them. And women are sacred.

Maybe what happened to me would be normal to them. And he is the one who's being an idiot.