So here I am, in sunny Fujairah, a two hours drive from Dubai.
A slightly different world than what I have come to be used to…with a few farms on the way and many isolated houses that made me wonder on how some want to be in the thick of the action, while others want to get away from it all.
We did too, albeit on a temporary basis, and in a more touristy kind of way. By the way, what’s it with hotels and pools? Everyone and his uncle is at the pool, floating away one calorie at a time….
When growing up, I hardly, if ever, got a chance to visit a pool. The only ones present were in 5-star hotels, not far away distance-wise, but a whole world apart class-wise. Today, my 6-month old son made his first foray into the pool, in a yellow float and a blue mood. Too sleepy to appreciate the fine things in life, I presume.
Speaking of life, I was reading 21 Lessons for the 21st century, by Yuval Harari. He speaks of a near future when, for many, staying relevant will be a challenge. Technology has given us many conveniences, but many will be adversely affected due to the loss of jobs taken away by advances in technology. Like the kings of yore, power will be concentrated in the hands of a few elite, and big data will give them a leverage that will be unthinkable.
And due to the ‘often referred to but seldom thought of’ maxim of the future self, we don’t care about it as much since we are in the present, and us in the future are thought of as different and unrelatable beings, ones that we can defer the bad news to without ourselves being affected.
That is our attitude towards climate change and everything adverse that is happening today. For now, we lie content in Fujairah, in a pool of warm water, living the good life. Tomorrow can wait…
Or so we think…