This is a great thing about Abu Dhabi … at the same time that it’s a bit disturbing.

A rule of thumb for expenses here:

If it involves commodities, it will cost about the same as in First World countries.

If it involves people … it will be cheaper. Often far cheaper.

What does that mean to the daily lives of expats who are making a decent salary?

It means expensive real estate, cars not much cheaper than back home. Furniture, appliances … about the same as where you came from. Commodities.

But if the economic activity is about people … it often means a level of personal service that is affordable and, perhaps, inevitable.

We are talking about …

Maids, masseuses, manicurists.

Nannies, drivers, tea boys.

Cooks, babysitters, barbers.

In the U.S. and Western Europe, having people handle some or all of those tasks indicates a sure sign of upper-middle-class prosperity. If not upper-class real money.

In much of Asia, however, personal service is within reach of middle-income earners.

Why?

My belief is that it stems from one reality: Lots of poor people. And here in the UAE, millions and millions of them live within a few hours, by plane.

India, 1 billion people,  many of them dirt poor. Pakistan, 180 million people. Bangladesh, 160 million. Egypt, 80 million. Syria, 20 million.

That’s about 1.5 billion people,  many of them destitute, living within a few hours by plane from an oil-rich country of (maybe) 7 million.

And many of them are keen to get here.

Taking a job in the UAE, for many of these poor people, puts them into position to support entire families back home. Because so little money goes so far, back in their homes in Bengal or Kerela or Swat.

What that means for those who are making, say, $50,000 and up … it puts them in position to tap into this human capital.

Consider some prices:

–One-hour massage for a woman: $40.

–A housemaid: $6 per hour.

–A live-in maid: From $270-400 per month (in salary).

–Babysitters: $5 an hour.

–Barbers (men:) $4 for a haircut.

–A personal chai walla (tea boy) at the office: $10 per month.

Also seriously inexpensive: Cabs (drivers sometimes make as little as $270 per month), laundries, pedicurists … and they all are people-oriented jobs.

Americans, in particular, have some reservations about all this. Few of us grew up with servants and it doesn’t seem right, having people wait on you. It’s unnatural. Shouldn’t you be doing this yourself? Or at least paying a fee you might charge if you did the job yourself?

Well … yes.

But after you live here a while, you realize that maintaining a commitment to complete self-sufficiency not only is probably a foolish decision, economically, it seems almost anti-social, as well. Because hundreds of thousands of expats are here to make money in these jobs. And if you don’t want the tea boy to bring you tea (chai) or coffee and a copy of the newspaper and offer to mail your letters and pick up your laundry… well, that’s one less customer for that guy — who may be putting a couple of kids through college by bringing tea to people in the office.

People’s time ought to be worth more.  No question. But economic realities exist here that we did not create.

So, sure, you could do your own wash, clean your own house, bring your own tea to the office, drive your own car … but you would be saving very little money and depriving several someone elses of income.

In a perfect world, everyone works for union scale. The world isn’t perfect.

We may never get used to having someone clean the apartment for $6 an hour, but when the woman sets the price herself and you tip her on top of that … how guilty should you feel, and for how long?

Facts are: If it’s a job in the UAE that involves humans, the competition is so stiff and wage expectations are low. Someday this may change. I hope so.