Expat Australian Darren O’Mullane was driving home after a stressful nursing shift at a hospital in Dubai when he encountered the bane of drivers the world over: a bad driver who was also talking on his cell phone.
Photo: Will Hale
The incident was the tipping point for O’Mullane, who flipped the bird as he accelerated past the man.
But O’Mullane’s bad day was about to get a lot worse: the other driver was a United Arab Emirates government official, who proceeded to tailgate O’Mullane, followed him to his home, got in a fight with him, and then called police, who hauled O’Mullane off to jail for 24 days.
After his stint in the clink, O’Mullane received a deportation notice, as did his wife, who is also an Australian expat who was working in Dubai.
The incident is a dramatic reminder about how important it is to conform to local customs (like restraining oneself from making gestures that may be considered rude) when traveling or living abroad. If you’re headed abroad and you need an etiquette primer, check out this article: 5 Common American Gestures That Might Insult the Locals.
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8 Comments... join the discussion!
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Ha ha hahahahaa. (Should I feel more sympathy?)
Actually, flipping off bad drivers is one of my guilty pleasures.
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Wow. 24 days in prison, plus deportation? Do they actually have a law against flipping the bird, or did they just lock him up under some generic “offensive foreigner” legislation?
(In fairness, I try never to flip anyone off at home anymore, either. I’ve had to call the police twice after bad drivers turned into road rage drivers when I did so…)
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I’ve become Buddha when I drive…I used to be a young aggressive driver, tailgating, zipping around, honking, etc but now in my wise old years I’m calm as can be. These days you just never know who has a gun in their glove box – seriously, not worth it. Take a deep breath and count to ten…
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More support for my driving paranoia! I find the more time that passes when I don’t have a car, the more I get freaked out by the thought of stressed out people in little metal boxes…
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As someone who has lived in Dubai, I feel for this guy. I have been known to “give the bird” to some drivers as they can be absolutely terrible. Luckily, it was never a government official…..
It all depends who you do it to, some have power and will do anything to show it, other don’t. He apparently got one person who really overreacted….
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As a side note, I tried to find out where the term “flip the bird” came from. I was unsuccessful (if you know, please post it here!)
BUT, I did come across this site: http://showthefinger.blogspot.com/ (careful, not all images are office friendly)
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Oh My! It’s important to know the customs of a country. Flipping the bird is never a good idea no matter where you’re at in the world. Road rage can be devastating. I used to get upset when I was driving. Luckily, I snapped out of it! It’s not worth it. Thank goodness for music. Sometimes I arrive at my destination and sit in the car until the song is finished if it’s a song I like.
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