You see them off and on in the regular places - hubcap belt buckle, tight baseball caps with rounded brims, untucked cowboy shirts over a classic beer belly, running shoes, jeans, a scruffy beard and a not wholly young or attractive Chinese woman on their arm. Always wearing look which translates as “Don’t short change me or I’ll throw a chair through the window.” These are the oil rig guys, the fourth leg of the expat table after the German automotive guys, the tech workers and the aimless students trying to make a positive change in the world. Usually you can find a handful of them in the same restaurant night after night eating western food because that’s what they know. Chain smoking and nursing a beer over a plate of spaghetti and meatballs. Their companion always sits there silently drinking a soft drink and staring into space with a look of bored disgust making you wonder what the details of the arrangement are. The deal here isn’t about conversation, it’s about comfort. I went ...
