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2022 - It's Raining in Episode 19
10 Plays3 years ago
Salman enjoys a short ramble on Dubai's weather, the rich and, Jokovic's exemption for the Australian open.
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Transcript
The Unusual Rainy Weather in Dubai
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey, everyone, it's Oman Qureshi.
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome back to this podcast.
00:00:04
Speaker
We're enjoying some great weather out here in Dubai, man.
00:00:08
Speaker
When I say great weather, it's to a certain part of this population.
00:00:14
Speaker
It's raining.
00:00:16
Speaker
It's been kind of drizzling.
00:00:17
Speaker
Actually, we had a couple of
00:00:19
Speaker
what we might describe as a thunderstorm.
00:00:22
Speaker
And for Dubai, that's a big thing.
00:00:23
Speaker
There was lightning involved and it's been cloudy for the last three days, been a bit chilly.
00:00:30
Speaker
It's our winter, man.
00:00:31
Speaker
And our winter is 18 to 22 degrees Celsius.
00:00:35
Speaker
So it's still pretty warm, I guess, from that point of view.
00:00:38
Speaker
But there's wind and we need any excuse to take out the 20 sweaters we own and wear them one after another real quickly.
00:00:49
Speaker
I don't know why everyone has those things out here.
00:00:53
Speaker
I don't, I have, I have way too many jackets for a place that's this hot, you know, I'm not even talking about like formal stuff that I might wear to a show or to like, you know, I don't know, to a dinner party.
00:01:08
Speaker
Like I have way too many casual stuff for the 10 days that it's wearable in this country.
00:01:16
Speaker
I have no idea.
00:01:17
Speaker
And I think other people probably have as much or more.
00:01:21
Speaker
It's just something we do.
00:01:22
Speaker
It's winter.
00:01:23
Speaker
We buy winter clothes, even though it's not really winter.
Local Attitudes Towards Rain
00:01:27
Speaker
But at the same time, there's a bunch of people who are whining about this.
00:01:31
Speaker
You get these expats out here.
00:01:33
Speaker
Oh, my God.
00:01:34
Speaker
They're just...
00:01:35
Speaker
They start complaining, oh, it's cloudy, it's raining, I can't get to the beach today.
00:01:41
Speaker
And it just, that really gets to me, all right?
00:01:43
Speaker
It really, really annoys me.
00:01:45
Speaker
You know why?
00:01:45
Speaker
Because we're in Dubai, it's a desert, all right?
00:01:50
Speaker
And in case you missed it, right?
00:01:51
Speaker
It's a desert.
00:01:52
Speaker
The only reason you're cool and you can live here is because they built it so well with a lot of air conditioning around, right?
00:01:58
Speaker
Everything is air conditioned here.
00:02:00
Speaker
But these people, it's so snooty of them.
00:02:04
Speaker
Like the 10 days, the couple of days it rains here, right?
00:02:08
Speaker
Like it's cool.
00:02:09
Speaker
Like it's just bearable to walk outside and not feel burned, right?
00:02:14
Speaker
Like you're not getting instant cancer or something.
00:02:17
Speaker
These guys have to complain about it because they're like, oh, you know, I can't go to the beach.
00:02:22
Speaker
This rain is miserable.
00:02:23
Speaker
And it really gets to me because I'm like, man, shut up, man.
00:02:26
Speaker
We've got...
00:02:27
Speaker
You have like 364 days of the year where you've got plenty of sunshine.
00:02:33
Speaker
Maybe 465 days of the year.
00:02:35
Speaker
That's how much sun there is.
00:02:37
Speaker
There's like more sun than there are days in the year.
00:02:41
Speaker
That's how much sun there is.
00:02:42
Speaker
That's how much heat there is in this place.
00:02:46
Speaker
So let us, the few people who do like or the people who've grown up here, enjoy the rain and the weather without you complaining in our faces about it.
00:02:55
Speaker
And mind you,
00:02:56
Speaker
I'm saying this.
00:02:56
Speaker
My own wife is one of these people.
00:02:58
Speaker
Now, she's from Scotland, right?
00:02:59
Speaker
So I get it.
00:03:00
Speaker
I get it.
00:03:00
Speaker
She's coming from there.
00:03:01
Speaker
It always was miserable, according to her, cloudy and rainy and cold and whatnot.
00:03:06
Speaker
But she's been here long and she's spent a couple of summers here.
00:03:09
Speaker
So she now knows how hot it is.
00:03:11
Speaker
And secretly, I think she's realizing she doesn't she she just doesn't want to admit in front of me.
00:03:16
Speaker
It's one of those things.
00:03:18
Speaker
She doesn't want to admit that she actually likes it when it's like bearable outside, you know?
00:03:23
Speaker
So it's just crazy, guys.
00:03:25
Speaker
Let us enjoy.
00:03:26
Speaker
I mean, well, I was talking about the number of days.
Rare Rainfall and its Appreciation
00:03:30
Speaker
I'll tell you what.
00:03:30
Speaker
I'll even look it up, right?
00:03:32
Speaker
Like this is interesting to me.
00:03:33
Speaker
How many days... Let's look this shit up.
00:03:37
Speaker
How many days does it rain in Dubai?
00:03:41
Speaker
Let's check that shit out.
00:03:43
Speaker
It is... It is...
00:03:46
Speaker
Rain falls only 25 days a year.
00:03:49
Speaker
25 days, my friends.
00:03:51
Speaker
25.
00:03:51
Speaker
Okay.
00:03:52
Speaker
So I was exaggerating a little bit.
00:03:53
Speaker
But when I say 25, that's the average.
00:03:55
Speaker
It's probably like 10.
00:03:56
Speaker
25 is including the times when there's like a few drops.
00:04:01
Speaker
And this is after they've got cloud seeding and what all kind of scientific experiments going on to induce rain out of the sky.
00:04:09
Speaker
This is what we've got, my people.
00:04:11
Speaker
hardly a month of the year, right?
00:04:14
Speaker
So yeah, shut up and enjoy it, all right?
00:04:19
Speaker
That sounds really bad now that I say it out loud like that, but all right, just don't get in my face about it, like don't complain about it in my face, all right?
00:04:27
Speaker
Just get out of my face about it.
00:04:28
Speaker
That's right, people, get out of my face and or don't, I don't know.
00:04:33
Speaker
It's your choice, I don't know.
00:04:35
Speaker
There is some brightness out here.
Humor in the Time of Omicron
00:04:38
Speaker
I think, I know the whole Omicron thing is a little bit of a hiccup.
00:04:42
Speaker
I think one of the best jokes I read about it, thought about it, and then I didn't create that meme, one of those moments where you're like, should I have done that joke?
00:04:50
Speaker
Was someone going, Omicron, wait till you see the Decepticon version come out.
00:04:58
Speaker
And
00:04:59
Speaker
And yeah, I laughed.
00:05:00
Speaker
I laughed.
00:05:00
Speaker
I'm just sharing that because I, you know, there's always this joke you find and you go, shit, obvious one, should have done it, should have put it out there.
00:05:08
Speaker
But whoever did it, great on you, man.
00:05:10
Speaker
Now it's a meme and you don't own it and you earn nothing out of it.
00:05:13
Speaker
Thank you.
00:05:13
Speaker
Thank you guys for putting memes out there so that it becomes harder for stand-up comics to do jokes, okay?
00:05:19
Speaker
Just putting this shit out there too, all right?
00:05:21
Speaker
I like your work, but I don't know.
00:05:23
Speaker
Just don't kill us all with the lack of money.
00:05:27
Speaker
out here.
00:05:28
Speaker
All right.
Economic Concerns in the UAE
00:05:29
Speaker
Speaking of money, I was reading up on how UAE is like, there's like 73% of businesses, they're like looking up and going, they're going to raise the salaries on people by 5%.
00:05:43
Speaker
Roughly, that's the average you're expecting.
00:05:46
Speaker
So if you're a working person, great.
00:05:48
Speaker
Good on you, man.
00:05:49
Speaker
Take that paper and shove it in your boss's face and tell him,
00:05:54
Speaker
Or tell her, I need that raise.
00:05:57
Speaker
And 5%, right?
00:05:58
Speaker
That's amazing.
00:05:59
Speaker
Except it doesn't beat inflation.
00:06:01
Speaker
So I don't know how people survive anywhere in the world right now.
00:06:05
Speaker
Especially when you're working where your wage is constant, but it's also constantly limited.
00:06:14
Speaker
I don't know.
00:06:14
Speaker
It's a crazy one, right?
00:06:15
Speaker
And then people kind of need to hustle or cut down on costs and stuff.
00:06:20
Speaker
I'm just going on a tangent, man, because I've got a family, I've got a wife and kid, and I don't have a traditional job.
00:06:26
Speaker
So this is one thing that kind of ticks in my head all the time.
00:06:33
Speaker
How do people out here survive?
00:06:34
Speaker
Because I can have bad months or days, but I can always go out and try to earn more.
00:06:41
Speaker
What do you do when you're in a job?
00:06:43
Speaker
You have to go to your boss and then you go, hey, man, could I get a raise?
00:06:50
Speaker
And then they decide, oh, you know, we'll have to bring this up with HR.
00:06:53
Speaker
And HR goes, it's not that time of the year, my friend.
00:06:56
Speaker
And we have to look at your performance and blah, blah, blah.
00:06:59
Speaker
And we're going to do this once a year.
00:07:02
Speaker
Meanwhile, your kid is like dying of hunger.
00:07:04
Speaker
I don't know.
00:07:05
Speaker
Or you're selling your liver out there so you can keep the job and live in your house.
00:07:12
Speaker
Oh, very dark and depressing, right?
00:07:16
Speaker
But some of you are doing well according to the salary thing.
00:07:18
Speaker
I always read it because it's kind of funny.
00:07:20
Speaker
My background was in HR side of curiosity.
00:07:22
Speaker
I look it up and I love how the average salaries here sound so great.
00:07:27
Speaker
They always sound so great.
00:07:29
Speaker
The expected salary for your job should be 3,400,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
00:07:37
Speaker
And then you go out and you meet people and you're like, hey, what are you actually getting paid?
00:07:42
Speaker
Peanuts.
00:07:43
Speaker
I'm getting paid peanuts, right?
00:07:44
Speaker
That's what they... I don't know where these averages come from or how much one person is getting versus the 10 other people to have that kind of average come out.
00:07:55
Speaker
You know what I'm saying?
00:07:56
Speaker
It's amazing.
00:07:58
Speaker
It's amazing how these average salaries work and who's actually getting any of it.
00:08:03
Speaker
Okay.
00:08:03
Speaker
A little side note, we know who's getting them.
00:08:06
Speaker
But anyway, the point being, it's supposed to be a good year for all of
Omicron's Impact on Daily Life
00:08:12
Speaker
you.
00:08:12
Speaker
So a little bit positive.
00:08:14
Speaker
I know we got to get over this Omicron hump, which is all right.
00:08:18
Speaker
You know, the biggest problem about it is the PCR lines here, man.
00:08:22
Speaker
I had a friend, he had to wait three hours.
00:08:25
Speaker
That's crazy.
00:08:26
Speaker
That's crazy.
00:08:27
Speaker
I thought we were over this.
00:08:30
Speaker
And to a large extent, we were.
00:08:31
Speaker
And then people from around the world flew in.
00:08:35
Speaker
And thank you very much, people.
00:08:36
Speaker
Yeah, thank you.
00:08:38
Speaker
Now we're all a little worried again.
00:08:42
Speaker
Thankfully, it's not supposed to be crazy.
00:08:43
Speaker
But hey, man, please vaccinate.
00:08:46
Speaker
Thankfully, this country kind of nudges you into having to do it.
00:08:50
Speaker
But if for whatever reason you haven't, just go get it done, man.
00:08:54
Speaker
We need this shit to end.
00:08:56
Speaker
Mask up and vaccinate until we need to.
00:09:00
Speaker
So I'm just going off about this.
00:09:04
Speaker
You know why I'm angry is...
00:09:06
Speaker
is I'm talking about these salaries
Media Portrayals of Dubai's Wealth
00:09:08
Speaker
and stuff.
00:09:08
Speaker
And then the reason, the other reason I read that piece up was because there's this new documentary on BBC and it's called Inside Dubai.
00:09:18
Speaker
And it's really, it's just about the 1% here, right?
00:09:21
Speaker
And according to that video, like I couldn't even watch the whole thing.
00:09:24
Speaker
I just watched glimpses and it made me feel sick to my stomach because it's about these people who are like leading this, living this lavish life out here.
00:09:34
Speaker
And I'm sure they're there, they're everywhere in the world.
00:09:37
Speaker
But it's just, it's the way they show it out here.
00:09:39
Speaker
It's like everyone is just earning millions and stuff.
00:09:43
Speaker
And that's not reality.
00:09:44
Speaker
And I kind of hate that because it projects this image of Dubai being superficial when it's not.
00:09:50
Speaker
There's a lot to give here.
00:09:52
Speaker
I've had my troubles with the city in terms of trying to fit in and everything.
00:09:57
Speaker
But I also think the path it's taking is great.
00:10:01
Speaker
even from an arts point of view.
00:10:03
Speaker
Sometimes it's tough out here due to certain laws and regulations, but we're still in a good place, man.
00:10:09
Speaker
And especially over the last two years, a lot of appreciation.
00:10:13
Speaker
Got a knock on wood for that one, man.
00:10:15
Speaker
And I hope it keeps going.
00:10:16
Speaker
And if you live in this wonderful place, then yeah, maybe we all should stop complaining a little bit, like about the rain, you know?
00:10:25
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:26
Speaker
Sorry, I keep bringing it back to that.
00:10:27
Speaker
I don't know why.
00:10:28
Speaker
It's just, it's bugging me a lot, right?
00:10:31
Speaker
It's like, it's bugging me.
00:10:33
Speaker
I shouldn't because it's like, it's five days of this gorgeous weather for me.
00:10:37
Speaker
And I'm just hung up on like people complaining about this.
00:10:40
Speaker
And now I'm like in a bad mood and I shouldn't be.
00:10:42
Speaker
So it's making me more angry with people who say it.
00:10:46
Speaker
I got to stop this.
00:10:47
Speaker
I got it.
00:10:47
Speaker
Okay, done.
00:10:49
Speaker
From this second on, we're not doing this.
00:10:51
Speaker
Okay, we're not doing this.
00:10:53
Speaker
Is it?
Tennis World Controversies
00:10:55
Speaker
Speaking about these one percenters and shit, man, that's another interesting thing.
00:11:02
Speaker
I sometimes think people get away.
00:11:06
Speaker
Sometimes I think the racism, the other issues, minorities of all kinds, a lot of times it comes down to the powerful versus the poor as well.
00:11:20
Speaker
And or the powerful versus the weak.
00:11:23
Speaker
And and that's the way to look at it.
00:11:25
Speaker
It's those people in power who who kind of get away with a lot more in a lot of countries.
00:11:30
Speaker
What am I going on about?
00:11:31
Speaker
I don't know.
00:11:32
Speaker
I think I just I was just reading about.
00:11:35
Speaker
This is so bizarre.
00:11:36
Speaker
I don't know why it's bothering you, but, you know, Djokovic, the tennis player, he's just been allowed to compete in the Australian Open.
00:11:46
Speaker
He's gotten exempt from having to vaccinate.
00:11:49
Speaker
And obviously the Federation is kind of going, no, no, no.
00:11:54
Speaker
It was a vigorous test and, you know, it's a genuine reason and blah, blah, blah.
00:12:00
Speaker
Meanwhile, people are getting pissed off in Australia because they're like, hey, man, we were locked up for like months.
00:12:06
Speaker
Right.
00:12:07
Speaker
Australia has been one of the hardest lockdowns for people, the longest.
00:12:11
Speaker
And so they're they're rightfully a bit angry about someone just wheezing into getting a buy on this stuff when when when they've had to go through so much.
00:12:20
Speaker
And it's also it stands out more because there's a Russian female tennis player who had to back out.
00:12:25
Speaker
And excuse me.
00:12:27
Speaker
I'm going to try pronouncing her name, but correct me if I'm wrong, but it's Nata Viklyantseva.
00:12:35
Speaker
Maybe I should try a Russian accent, but Viklyantseva.
00:12:39
Speaker
Yes.
00:12:40
Speaker
Viklyantseva.
00:12:41
Speaker
I don't know.
00:12:43
Speaker
Correct me if I'm wrong with that pronunciation, man.
00:12:45
Speaker
But she...
00:12:46
Speaker
She had to withdraw from the tournament even though she's vaccinated, but because she had Sputnik.
00:12:54
Speaker
And apparently Australia doesn't recognize the Russian one.
00:12:57
Speaker
So someone who's vaccinated can't play, but someone who's not vaccinated has been allowed to jump in and play.
00:13:06
Speaker
And that just, it doesn't sit well, right?
00:13:09
Speaker
Like, it's just like, come on, man.
00:13:11
Speaker
What's up with the tennis world, by the way?
00:13:13
Speaker
Like, you have Chinese tennis players disappear.
00:13:16
Speaker
Oh, my God.
00:13:18
Speaker
That story is dark and funny at the same time, right?
00:13:21
Speaker
If you followed it.
00:13:23
Speaker
What was her name again?
00:13:24
Speaker
Wait, I got to Google this again.
00:13:26
Speaker
The Chinese, what was her name?
00:13:30
Speaker
Chinese tennis player.
00:13:35
Speaker
that should, Peng Shui?
00:13:38
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, Peng Shui.
00:13:39
Speaker
So she's the one.
00:13:40
Speaker
She made some allegations of sexual assault on a big guy in China, and then she disappeared, and then she came on a video and went, no, no, everything's okay.
00:13:54
Speaker
I'm fine.
00:13:55
Speaker
Everything's great.
00:13:57
Speaker
No one's doing anything to me.
00:13:58
Speaker
I'm just, you know, having a great time out here.
00:14:01
Speaker
I just can't come meet you in person, but you know,
00:14:04
Speaker
We're video chatting.
00:14:06
Speaker
It's great.
00:14:07
Speaker
It's amazing.
00:14:10
Speaker
And I'm like, whoever devised that in China, I just, how stupid do you think people are?
00:14:15
Speaker
Like, they will buy this.
00:14:17
Speaker
They will buy this thing.
00:14:19
Speaker
You know, I'm just, I can't, I can't believe the thing to get away with that.
00:14:23
Speaker
But poor, poor her.
00:14:25
Speaker
Right.
00:14:25
Speaker
And again, I don't know if I'm pronouncing her name right.
00:14:27
Speaker
Peng, Peng Shui.
00:14:29
Speaker
Um,
00:14:30
Speaker
And she said, what's up with the tennis world with this stuff?
00:14:33
Speaker
Like, she's, she had this issue and then this whole situation down here in Australia.
00:14:40
Speaker
It's like, get it together, tennis.
00:14:42
Speaker
You're not a violent sport.
00:14:43
Speaker
You're not that important.
00:14:45
Speaker
Like, hang low key or something.
00:14:48
Speaker
All right?
00:14:49
Speaker
Calm down with your scandals and stuff.
00:14:52
Speaker
Okay?
00:14:53
Speaker
So...
00:14:53
Speaker
Yeah, that's it, man.
00:14:57
Speaker
That's what's going on in my head.
Final Thoughts on Safety and Health
00:14:59
Speaker
That's the kind of stuff I've been thinking about.
00:15:03
Speaker
And I hope you guys stay safe out there.
00:15:07
Speaker
This has been fun.
00:15:08
Speaker
I will catch you guys again on the next podcast.
00:15:11
Speaker
Stay safe, mask up, and vaccinate.
00:15:13
Speaker
Till next time.
00:15:14
Speaker
Bye-bye.