There is no better position to be in....

than that of the white Western man.

I'm sure in the back of my mind I have known this all along, but living in the Gulf has really brought it home to me. No, I'm not ranting about gender issues, next on the list after white Western man comes white Western woman. I'm privileged over here. I'm treated with great resect by the community because of my status as a teacher, I'm paid a fair wage, I live in a nice apartment and I am (within reason) free to do as I please. The guys have it slightly better with access to more facilities, but in context, the difference is minimal.

This story http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/emergencies/two-killed-32-injured-in-blaze-that-gutted-eight-storey-building-1.554703 brought home to me how unequal society here is. For those of you who don't have time to read, the two men who were killed were cleaners living in a building marked for demolition, earning 450aed (€90) per month and living in four bedroom apartments which held 6 to eight people in each bedroom. They are continually exploited by employers who know that leaving isn't an option for those who would not find another job and could not make their way back to Pakistan. Many of them still send a good portion of their measly wages back to their wives and children in their home countries.

The amazing thing about these people is that they are not filled with the kind of resentment you see in the West with those who are unhappy with their lot. They consider themselves lucky to have come to a country where they can work for a living at all, and accept their position with good humour and a gentleness we don't often see in Ireland these days.

And what is the difference between us and them? Are we better people? No. Are we smarter? No. Did we do something to deserve our superior status in society no. We just got lucky. And it's about time we realised it and stopped our whinging.