Everybody wants to work...no, no, not me

I'm not working at the moment and even though I have plenty of moments where I ask "Who am I?" "What am I doing here?" (thats my favourite thought right now) I'm enjoying just taking my time doing simple things. Like going to Paul, my favourite cafe, ordering a coffee and reading the whole paper until I notice the staff staring at me and I can see them thinking "is she going to order anything else?".

Then I remember what an indulgent life I'm living and think of the construction industry workers who you see all over the city in brightly coloured overalls.

You see them at lunch time outside Tasty Burger eating cheap meals and trying to drink as much water as they can because its free and they've been working since 6am in the heat. These men are mainly from India or Pakistan and come here to earn money which they then send back to their families back home. According to www.timeoutdubai.com these men earn, on average, 500 dirhams per month. Jobs for administration workers range from 5,000 - 10,000 dirhams per month and a marketing position at middle management level may receive 20,000 dirhams upwards per month. They live in labour camps which are reportedly over crowded with no airconditioning and there has been debate about the upcoming summer months because the workers argue that they shouldn't have to work outside when its over a certain temperature.

But Dubai is all about progress and the local media have been reporting that there will have to be some give and take between government bodies, the construction industry and the workers who are slowly realising that there is power in numbers. It will be interesting to see how the media reports the weather over the coming summer months.