Category: On my way home from Dubai, I was presented with a “problem” that I usually don’t encounter when I’m at home: I had too much local currency! Between the Dirhams that I took out when I arrived, the Duke per diem, and the cash leftover from when Kerry’s boat trip didn’t materialize, I had well over 1000 Dirham (~$250) in my pocket at the airport.
The entire bottom level of this airport is Duty-Free!
Of course, I could’ve taken this money to the currency exchange and gotten hammered on the transaction fees. But since we got to the airport pretty early, I decided to wander around the massive Duty-Free for a while and see what I could spend it on instead. Walking around, it’s unclear whether there is an airport at the Dubai (Airport) Mall, or if there’s a mall inside of the Dubai Airport! When you can buy a $12,000 IWC Big Pilot watch, gold bars, or even a 6-foot hookah with complementary shisha, it stops being just an airport…
Alas, as much as I love watches, 1000 Dirham is not $12,000 so I left the watch aisle alone and moved over to the newsstand, which was a bit more my speed. If you recall from this post, I was plagued by a bout of insomnia and an inconsiderate passenger on my flight out, and thus I stayed awake nearly the entire flight; I wanted to make sure if that happened again that I’d be prepared.
Now, I’m not a big reader, never have been, so reading crime novels and the like doesn’t appeal to me. However, on the way out to Dubai, I read Predictably Irrational
If humans are so clever, why do we smoke and gamble, or take drugs, or fall in love?…And how come your idiot boss is so overpaid?…the behaviour of even the unlikeliest of individuals – prostitutes, drug addicts, racists and revolutionaries – complies with economic logic…
Great teasers may sell books, but that doesn’t mean they get read (immediately, at least)! I passed out as soon as I got on the plane, so I didn’t need to read on the way back to Dulles. But I did get around to reading this book over the Christmas break and enjoyed it quite a bit, which will be the topic of my next post.
Would you recommend Predictably irrational? I’ve been trying to find it in Riyadh without luck.
Yes, I’d recommend it. Just the right mix of storytelling and research (references to academic papers are provided in the appendix).
If you want me to pick up a copy for you, let me know and I’ll bring it to India.
that book’s selling here for 10RMB, actually i think i might have a spare copy. lemme see. if i do, i’ll bring it in for you. they’ve got other sh*t here as well. got a copy of superfreakonomics for 10RMB as well. together with the world is curved and, aptly enough, chindia.
Since Ian can apparently get any book on the planet for a nickel, maybe he’s the better person to ask!