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Public Areas
August 18, 2005
I'm at the Al-Rashid Mall's food court, ordering at the counter of the McDonald's. But wait, I'm waiting in the females-only line. I head over to the males-only line and order my combination. Off I go with my tray to find a seat and table. In one large section lies the males-only section. In another large section lies the females-only section. But I'm with my parents and sibling, so I'm heading straight to the family section, which is walled off from the other sections, and vice-versa.
This case is pretty typical of many public areas in Saudi Arabia, be it a clinic waiting room or a fast-food restaurant. To the best of my knowledge, I'd say that most public areas across the Saudi kingdom are separated like this, for cultural reasons. It seems that at least part of it is meant to prevent mingling between the men and women, most likely the single ones, but perhaps the married ones out there by themselves. I can only guess how flirting and dating works. And we foreigners abided by these customs too.
Nevertheless, this kind of segregation was less common within the Aramco communities like Dhahran. For the most part, it wasn't really that much of a hassle, or at least compared to abiding by prayer times anyway.
-Gordon Mei
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