I don’t want to make assumptions. Was your neighbor a Saudi?
Was my neighbor a Saudi?
Of course!
My experience with the Saudis is that they are individually very nice - especially to Americans. But their national wealth has caused them to outsource everything associated with manual labor. They have never learned the most basic elements of self-sufficiency. For example, I ran the Riyadh office of a larger UAE-based design firm. When I arrived I noted that the offices had a number of lights that were no longer functioning. I directed the office manager to inventory the lights that had failed and to purchase the variety of lamps required to make the lights functional. His reaction was to call in a “technician” to perform this task. My reaction was to find a screwdriver and remove the cover from one of the recessed sconce lights and remove the burned out bulb. Handing the bulb to him, I simply said, “That’s one. Now do the same thing to the rest of the lights.” He was shocked that I would know what to do, let alone actually pick up a screwdriver with my own hands.
So, no. I was not that surprised that my neighbor was completely useless when it came to changing a tire on his new car. The postscript to the BMW story is that after I changed his tire, I opened the drivers door and pointed out the blue button which was his automatic roadside service call. Amazed was his only reaction.