Thursday, April 26, 2012

How many people does it take to plug in a printer?


Well if you are in Saudi Arabia the answer may be four or more based on your experience. Recently we purchased commercial all in one printer from a well-known distributor in the Kingdom. This is how the receiving and installation process went.

Day 1- We received our printers in the new office. A Bangladeshi guy delivered the all in one unit.
Day 2- Another representative came by to make sure the boxes were delivered. This time a Saudi he looks at three boxes and says Masha-Allah you have the printers and left.
Day 3- First a gentleman from Philippines comes to un-box the printers. Hour later another Saudi comes in to plug it in the wall and say Masha-Allah your printers have power and left.
Day 4- Indian technician comes in to setup the printer as it is a network printer.
Day 5- The Saudi gentleman from Day 3 comes in to take a short survey and says Masha-Allah everything is great.

There is a reason why I mentioned the nationalities of all the people involved here. In the Kingdom you can only hire Saudis or individuals from North America or Europe for high level positions. Saudis, other Arabs, and perhaps Indo –Pak nationals for IT related job. But no Saudi is to be assigned an IT job, which includes excessive work or field work. Delivery work, janitorial work, or any other work that requires one to sweat have to be from 3rd world countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Srilanka, Philippines, or part of Africa.

I understand it was a printer and not a light bulb and the Saudis were the blonds but you get the point.   

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