Dateline Egypt, part 3

We had a fleet of 30 cars for project-related use on work days, and for personal use after hours and on weekends.  Engineers needed to inspect current and future job sites, surveyors were always in the field doing what surveyors do, other professional staff had frequent meetings with City officials downtown. 

Expats who lived more than a few blocks from the office car-pooled, and could use the vehicles for shopping and such during off hours.  During the week, spouses could take a bus or tram downtown but it wasn't a pleasant transport mode: crowded, dirty, slow, Western women ogled and pinched.  

There was one Egyptian driver for each fleet vehicle.  They knew the City, the quickest routes, alternate routes when traffic was snarled up by accidents or farmers delivering produce in donkey carts.  The drivers had it pretty easy.  On any given day, only half of them were needed.  The rest would sit around all day smoking and joking and drinking Turkish coffee.

One of my responsibilities in my prior assignment in the Corvallis, OR company headquarters was fleet manager.  We had roughly 500 company vehicles.  My job was to negotiate deals and financing on new vehicles, dispose of old vehicles, establish maintenance and cleaning schedules.

When I arrived in Egypt in '82 I was thinking only 30 cars in the fleet, piece of cake.  Boy, was I wrong!  The cars were poorly maintained and disgusting, filthy inside and out.  And there sat a dozen or so drivers, doing nothing all day.  I wrote up a set of cleaning and maintenance guidelines and gave them to Hamid, my fleet supervisor.  I expected a dramatic, overnight improvement in vehicle cleanliness.  I expected in vain.  Nothing happened.  Cars still filthy.  Drivers sitting around.

I gave Hamid the what for.  Waited a few more days.  And.............nothing happened.

Finally, Tarek, my accounting supervisor, took me aside.  "Drivers won't wash cars because it's beneath them.  Doing such a menial task would be degrading." 

'When in Rome .........'  So, I hired a guy, full time, to wash cars.  Problem solved.

Egyptians were, most likely still are, extremely class conscious.  We can thank the Brits for that, I think; they ruled the country for 74 years.  However, clan/tribal/religious connections probably play a large part also.