Tesh

I am a person with a disability. One of them is that I have a short right arm & hand. I know that people are to eat with their right hand in the Middle East, but it will be impossible for me. What am I to do?

mikewot

? Why do you assume that people eat right handed out here? Just eat with a knife and fork like everyone else.

Millhouse

You clearly don't know the rules.


That said, I do not believe for a single minute that this isn't a piss take.

mikewot

I do, I drink with both hands

Millhouse

sippy cup? bless.

scot47

Ask a Sheikh for religious guidance. What do Muslims with one hand do ?

Millhouse

have the maids wash their arse after taking a shit.

scrubbedexpat141

Surely you've learned to wank left-handed?

Irishbeekeeper

although it is considered better to eat with the right hand, but no where is it frowned upon if you use your left hand to eat nor do they lock you for it

There are left handed people in the Muslim world as well *gasp* I know

btw millhouse = right!

redShark

Hi Tesh, your name reminds me of an old tv commercial, ‘Tesh got a Toshiba’. Any way, there are some truth in what you are saying. Eating with the right hand is a recommended Islamic tradition practiced by the devout. It is not, however, a sin if you do otherwise, but the idea originates from the concept that the right hand is for eating and the left hand is for doing what you have to do when you are in the toilet. In general the right part of the body is dedicated for doing the pleasant things and the left side is for doing the others. So if you step into the toilet, for example, it is recommended that you step with your left foot and when you step out you do it with the right foot. Equally, if you step into a Mosque you should step with the right foot and step you out with the left foot. This Islamic toilet etiquette is always given as an example by the Muslim scholars to explain how Islam interferes in a human’s life, down to the small details

Irishbeekeeper

Sharkie my man, sometimes I wonder...

kittycat1

have you seen the state of squat toilets in saudi- I do not think stepping in with left or right foot is any cleaner than left right, right left, and hopping is not an option whilst juggling an abaya/weeing etc.

northbadawi

How to be in the toilet in small details: http://www.clubjeddah.com/styled-4/styled-6/index.html
When eating just do everything in opposite way.

Millhouse

Yameen -- screws up getting in a lift too

Beakersful

You're disabled, you have allowances. The people here petitioned the government to adopt western labels for disabled persons (special needs) so as not to hurt peoples feelings. If they challenge you on anything with your left hand and you show your disability they'll be mortified at what they've done.

As a leftie, I have encountered some locals who don't like things being exchanged with the right hand (one refused outright recently,) and had others watch you eat left handed with nervous apprehension. I just make light of it, and tell them that's what TP is for.

I've encountered those whose handwriting displays they have been forced to learn to write with the wrong hand, and those who freely write left handed and no one says anything. One thing you'll soon learn is this is a country of contradictions.