‘I Am Proud of Being a Waiter’
Ali Al-Zahrani, Arab News

RIYADH — In many countries, the idea of a citizen working as a waiter is not a big deal. In Saudi Arabia, however, the concept of a Saudi doing a job most commonly associated with imported guest workers is still a novelty. But 21-year-old Abdul Rahman Al-Khabrani says he has no problem being a hard-working waiter at a five-star hotel in Riyadh.

“I’m proud that I work,” he said, adding that it doesn’t bother him that some of his countrymen and women look down on him as a Saudi earning an honest riyal.

In a country where imported workers often do low-wage jobs, the idea of a Saudi playing the role more commonly associated with a South Asian is foreign in itself. Their fellow citizens often look at Saudis who do such jobs with derision.

But Al-Khabrani says he feels a bit like a pioneer in a new world where Saudi Arabia is trying to reduce its dependence on foreign labor under its Saudization policy.

“I applied for this job through one of my friends nine months ago,” he said. “I didn’t have any experience working in a hotel, but I trained for two weeks and now work without supervision.”

Al-Khabrani says that Saudis who look down on other Saudis doing this type of jobs should get over themselves and recognize the importance of respecting Saudis willing to do this work. Instead, says Al-Khabrani, Saudis should feel more ashamed about the high unemployment of Saudi men.

An encouraging article from Arab News. Let’s hope for more of it!

Saudi women are already willing to take on the less-than-glamorous jobs in life; it’s about time Saudi men got the message.