Paramedic to the Prince Quotes

“Advancement by merit is a sham in Saudi Arabia. The structure is there, but the reality is wassta: jobs for the boys. The obvious conclusion for a young man like that is that there’s a class above his which is blocking his advancement. Hmm, what to do? The same thing prevails throughout every profession,”
― Patrick (Tom) Notestine, Paramedic to the Prince

“With all this cash flowing in pretty soon there were a hell of a lot of healthy, well fed Saudis, with nothing much to do. They could cope with desk jobs, the bureaucratic, organizational jobs, but when it came to hands-on action, all the new resources were staffed and maintained by foreigners. Publicly, everyone agreed that this had got to change.”
― Patrick (Tom) Notestine, Paramedic to the Prince

“Jeddah is the natural cultural capital, an old fortified port on the Red Sea, the home of merchants and immigrants. Jeddah is historic, confident, less threatened by new ideas. Riyadh today is bible-belt fierce, and brash.”
― Patrick (Tom) Notestine, Paramedic to the Prince