The lesson for everyone in pair linked by grief

• Last Updated: November 17. 2009 8:53PM UAE / November 17. 2009 4:53PM GMT

With reference to Rachel Shabi’s story United by their grief which ran in M magazine (November 14), I can only say bravo! In this moving story about two messengers of peace – an Israeli woman who lost a son to a Palestinian sniper and a Palestinian man whose brother was killed by an Israeli soldier – the decades-deep conflict is given a human face. Too rarely do we read about the efforts made by ordinary citizens on both sides of the conflict who are coming together in ways their political leaders are unwilling to.

There must be one world or no world. “We have paid this extraordinary price – so if we can sit together, for God’s sake, is that not a good example?” Israeli Robi Damelin says of her work with Palestinian Ali Abu Awwad. Thank you for telling their story.

Denise R, Abu Dhabi

Best airline but blind bureaucracy

I’d like to congratulate Etihad on being named the world’s best airline. Its food is excellent by airline standards; the inflight service and entertainment is superb; and unlike more established airlines, Etihad doesn’t seem obsessed with cramming their passengers into the smallest possible space. Until recently, it was my favourite airline, but the blind bureaucracy I encountered after missing a flight has changed my opinion.

I recently tried to take advantage of Etihad’s fare deals to go away for a long weekend. I booked two tickets to Muscat, but missed my flight due to a tardy taxi and Abu Dhabi traffic. Since I only missed the check-in deadline for economy by a few minutes, I attempted to upgrade to business, since they allow you to check in later. I missed that deadline as well, because the counter was manned by only one man who was on the phone for 20 minutes. Why can’t phone customers call a call centre? When I inquired about whether I could be moved to another flight he said yes, but the flight didn’t leave until 9:30 at night. For a long weekend away this meant missing a third of my holiday. They could not move me to an earlier code-share flight, because I only had a discounted economy ticket. When I offered to pay the difference in price, I was rebuffed. Ultimately, I cancelled the ticket and got a refund minus a Dh300 fee. 

Here’s where Etihad’s bureaucracy hurts the company: I rebooked a ticket with Oman Air at half the price of the discounted Etihad ticket and arrived in Muscat a few hours later. I gave the company ample opportunity to keep my money and, indeed, to take more of it. Through their inability to be flexible, they have lost a loyal customer and turned me into a smarter traveller.  

Robert Hartman, Abu Dhabi

Handling a cat short of death

In his “Dad Matters” column The cat’s got to go, so the cat’s got to go, November 17, Robert Carroll complains about a stray cat taken in by the maintenance man in his Abu Dhabi apartment building, which I happen to share. Because of poor construction, his bathroom’s ventilation fan draws air from a stairwell that now smells of urine because the cat lives with the maintenance man in the water tank room.

Despite having the money and resources to fix his problem, the only solution Mr Carroll dwells on is how to get rid of “the animal”. Perhaps a change in perspective is in order: to begin with, this cat is no longer a stray – it is someone’s pet. Her name is Mino.

Mr Carroll is a man of means who can solve his problem in many ways. A few alternatives to his modest proposal: buy a litter box for the cat, purchase an air filtration unit for his apartment, block the offending fan permanently by using duct tape or remove the fan and weatherproof the seams.

Meanwhile, the maintenance man has chosen to stretch his meagre resources even thinner to accommodate his new companion, who faced an uncertain future at best if left on the street. All he has is his job, and Mino.

Is the solution really to poison the cat, as Mr Carroll fantasised? The maintenance man showed compassion – something Robert ought to learn by remedying his problem without causing more misery.

Eva Kis, Abu Dhabi

Fine example of a happy woman

With reference to Local women up in arms over Dubai doctor’s talk with Oprah (November 14), personally, I don’t see why the women of the UAE are “up in arms” over Dr Lamees Hamdan’s discussion on the Oprah Winfrey show. I feel she said nothing (of substance) that was wrong, except for the fact we don’t pay utility bills. Other than that, it was all spot on.

She was representing the UAE as a whole and I think she did so in a good way: she’s very well-educated, she was dressed modestly and she emphasised the importance of family. Overall, she was a happy woman and that’s what the show was about. All else aside, we should be proud that the UAE was chosen as one of the happiest places in the world and we were represented by a very bright, very happy woman.

Haif Zamzam, Abu Dhabi