Originally Posted by
David Swan
Remember once, we were discharging Ro Ro cargo in Dharhan (most of which we did ourselves). A few of us were taking a break in the Officers bar. All the booze was locked away as usual. The 2nd Mate had poured a tin of Fanta into a pint glass. Next thing a Saudia guard had walked past, saw the pint glass and his AK-47 was off his shoulder, cocked and ready to fire, pointing straight at the 2nd Mate. As you can imagine, we all damn near Sh@t ourselves and started yelling at the guard that it was orange/citrus. Took him some time before he finally got the message and he lowered his weapon. Really brought home to me just how little regard some races have for human life. To be possibly shot for drinking orange juice from a Pint glass doesn't bear thinking about.
Went to Saudi a number of times. Always found that the Red Sea side (Jeddah) was fine and a decent run ashore, but the Gulf side was a real pain in the posterior and was really glad when we finished and got underway again.