Abu Dhabi is a diverse city, with people from different nationalities coming together to make it a better place and to earn a living. But there’s one group who silently go about their business. They never complain about the heat and they never turn up for work late. And I want to know their story. Who are they? They’re the mannequins who keep guard on the streets of Abu Dhabi where roadworks are taking place.
If you drive in the nation’s capital, there’s a good chance you’ve seen one. These smiling chaps with flags come in all guises and live all over Abu Dhabi.
There’s one near the Shangri-La Hotel and the Grand Mosque. There are several on Salaam Street heading out of town. There’s also one in Tourist Club. They stand patiently every day as Abu Dhabi’s driving community hurtle past; waving their little flags, breathing in all those exhaust fumes, losing their hearing from all the honking of horns and (probably) chuckling to themselves as they see another driver get a speeding ticket on Salaam Street.
I’ve noticed there are several types in the city. There are the ones with yellow faces and then there are those that have stubble. I’ve yet to work out if these have been drawn on by creative members of the roadworks team. Or did they just forget to shave?
Most of them wear hi-visibility jackets, a sign of authority if there ever was one. Then again, I know someone who got a hi-vis jacket just because he was our company’s fire marshall. He worked in the post room, but once he had that luminous coat on, armies would willingly die in battle for him.
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw a mannequin on Salaam Street recently (near where the roads have been painted red to help enforce the 80mph speed limit), that had a mechanical arm. A mechanical arm! That’s one step away from being a Transformer. It also got me wondering how this fella got his big robotic limb. Was he promoted? Or was it like some medical experiment from a horror movie that had gone terribly wrong?
I now actively look out for these dummies of our highways and am keen to see what other outfits and pieces of kit they wear. But I also wonder if there’s more to their story. Maybe they’re like Kim Cattrall in the 1987 classic movie Mannequin. Do they come alive at night? Do they get together for dinner parties?
Of course, they do serve a very good and noble purpose, and that is to slow traffic down where needed on our busy roads. I’ve not seen them in any other country I’ve visited and I look forward to meeting more of them in Abu Dhabi. Just as long as they don’t make me late for a meeting.
