no smiles at airport

They always try to get rid of me quickly at check-in.. I asked a girl once, what's the rush. She told me laughing is not allowed on the job so I need to get out of there fast, must be my face :(

I smiled at your remark "tend to wear poker faces", yeah, I agree many of them may come across as tough, dry and unapproachable, once you've talked to them, you'd see a teddy bear smile.

Salam

I very rarely get smiles at Heathrow airport or any other airport in the west for that matter. If I smile first, sometimes they scowl and sometimes they smile back. Some are amazingly friendly and some are just plain cold. Could it be that expats here have already made up their minds about Qataris and use any negative incident as confirmation that this place is unwelcoming? I have met my share of unwelcoming people in the west. I consider them unwelcoming people with issues, no more, no less. Also, bear in mind that Qataris are quite reserved and tend to wear poker faces. Its a cultural thing.

you must smile so they can smile if u are nervous they will give that look;p

I too was treated well when I arrived here.

very sorry about ideal man...................................

The silliest question I was ever asked was us getting back home (Egypt)from a tourstic trip, and at the Cairo International Airport the passport check officer asked me and the family "what is the purpose of your visit to Egypt"???

We were like...huh??!! he didn't let us go until we've answered him.

Salam

Salam

Last time I was at the airport a lady was shouting at me for 5 minutes asking me to move my luggage, after letting her shout for 5 minutes I told her, it's not my bag and she just ran away from her seat. Was good fun..

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein

hahaha no way man! You should've answered the nuclear question with, "Actually I am carrying a nuclear head, but you're gonna have to find it sweet cakes (wink)!". Sure you'll be subject to a strip search, but it'll be a grand story to tell the kids one day... when they're old enough ofcourse :D

cumbersome2009 ,

Not only that some of weird questions I have been asked:

1. "Are you carrying a nuclear weapon , sir?". I started laughing. "Yes or NO?" NO. "Go ahead".

2.One time one of my classmates came to drop me at a Greyhound bus station(btw, we live in Windsor, ON, Canada, which is 5 mins drive from Detroit, MI). Officer asked my friend "How come this guy is your friend? You are 40 years old, and he is only 22"

3. One time, officer asked my wife "why your husband is in the passenger seat, not driving the car?"

Cheers

Thanks cumbersome2009..

In fact I had changed it for a few days sometime back but someone insisted (or suggested) that I bring back this avatar...so I share it with that person too...lol

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One life to live, live it to the fullest.

Very nice Avatar happy! Yin/Yang, quite groovy. I found that GIF a while back and I set it as Desktop Background (Tile, not center). Your whole desktop gets F'd up. But if ur stoned or drunk, it's quite pleasing :D:D!

No , actually they all are nervous because of their language problem , they cannot speak English so well , so just for this reason they don't bother to welcome ... :P

Never expected the airport staff to be welcoming or smiling and dont understand why they should be doing it at all, if that be the case whole day they would be only smiling and greeting people and then we would have another issue that they are taking too much time welcoming and smiling thereby delaying the process...lol...

I just want them to finish their part and let me off...

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One life to live, live it to the fullest.

hahaha Homeland security crap is so common these days. Did they really ask why your kid wasn't smiling?!!

I think you just had high expectations, you didn't expect the airport staff to wait for you with flowers?

Have you ever been to Frankfurt or Charles de Gaulle airports?

Well, I hope the kids will enjoy Doha..:)

Salam

children will get along with it surely...

you will definitely get a positive response if you start first for what you expect from others

eHow - How to Travel from Qatar to UAE and Oman by road

Hi,

Sorry to hear that. I guess, that was an isolated incident. But I just had an opposite experience what you've described. Last week when I came back from my vacation, I was very pleased to see something at the airport. We were waiting in a big line, a family and a small child were also waiting in the line. Once officer came and told that family to go to a counter which was designated for Qatari citizens. They are not even Qatari. Some of us were very happy to see this nice hospitality.

No hard feelings to US citizens, once I was crossing the Canadian-US border, and one Homeland security officer was asking me why my daughter was not smiling.This time, one officer asked me why I got too many vacation days (in Detroit-Windsor crossing)..

Cheers

its natural... while going to homeland... person smiles... and when comes back... he becomes so sad... wants to die... but in ur case is different.... ur kids arrived... hope u have a good time with them... enjoy life...

Everytime I've flown into Doha, I've used Al Maha services, they sit you down in a lounge and organise everything for you whilst you enjoy refreshments. I found it to be a very nice service with plenty of smiles and chit chat for the little ones. I know its easy to say in hindsight, but it might be an idea to use this service for the kids next visit.

Get used to it.

I landed here after vacation during Ramadaan, which supposed to be a tough month. But when I greeted the lady at the counter with 'Ramadan Kareem', she smiled beautifully and greeted me too. And during those 2-3 minutes at counter she even started talking to me.

I just find them a little shy. If they are not smiling, why not you start at once?

Everything's gonna be alright!!!

Plenty of smiles when you are leaving this country though.