Osama Hamza Ajlan

Al-Madinah

 

I WAS on a European tour during which I traveled between a number of Swiss, French and Italian towns and cities. I did not find the following there:



* Traffic chaos and non-adherence to the rules and regulations. There were very few police officers on the streets.



* Dented cars with writings on the sides, the boots or the windows.



* A scarcity of toilets and badly maintained rest houses along the highways and at the gas stations.



* Empty soft drink cans and food remains thrown haphazardly on the walkways. I have not seen any driver or passenger extending his hand out of their car to throw an empty can or bottle on the street.



* Bins overflowing with garbage.



* Drivers trying to overtake each other on crowded streets.



* Saher cameras hidden under trees, in mountains and under bridges. All the surveillance cameras there are placed in the open.



* Parking in prohibited areas. Lack of respect to others. No one will block the road for you from front or behind.



* No one will reserve the parking lot for himself and tell you that there are no parking places available.



* Harassment of women in the malls or shopping centers. There are no young men chasing female motorists. There are no security men in the market places to prevent young men from harassing women.



* Shoppers crowding the sales counters and salesmen replying to their queries in a cross manner.



* Shops refusing to accept returned goods except under clear instructions by the authorities.



* Shops built along roadsides with no parking places.



* Anger on faces for no reason.



* People showing off their wealth or status.



* Children misbehaving in malls and supermarkets by causing chaos and touching all the goods on display.



* Destruction of agricultural areas near the towns and cities for the construction of concrete buildings.



* Disrespect for the environment.



* Filthy and broken pavements for pedestrians.



* Asphalted roads with bumps and manholes.



* People staying awake for the whole night only to go to work or school the next day with eyes almost closed with sleepiness.



In the European countries, I did not find many of the bad things or shortcomings we have in our country. I am keeping quiet about many other negative things we regularly see around us.