One of the most surprising things of living in this compound is the inappropriate behaviour allowed and even carried out by the senior officers and their wives. I've already mentioned how their children are allowed to use communal areas without the required supervision of an adult and how there was no apology for the children's attacks on my husband and I; well, the bad behaviour goes beyond that.
Before I go on, I should explain the structure of the housing here for the British armed forces. First off, there are three compounds; one, where I live, with the most senior officers - Lt Colonels and full Colonels and their equivalents; another two with mixed ranks of Major and below.
For a short time one of the Major equivalents and his wife were living on our compound. It saved them moving more than they needed to, having been subject to a ridiculous amount of moves in the last few years, which they'd done with no complaint and in all good humour. A senior officer's wife was overheard telling one of her friends that it 'lowered the tone' having a Major equivalent living on our compound.
I took this story with a pinch of salt, wondering if she had been misunderstood somehow. After all, I hadn't witnessed her being directly nasty, only indirectly, and ever willing to believe the best in people and the worst of myself, I wondered if she could have been joking or something, but then I heard another story that made me exchange that salt for a whole heap of belief.
Chatting to one of the officers one day, he relayed to me how he had overheard this woman discussing one of the other wives on the compound. 'Oh, she never goes out anywhere, I don't know what she does all day'. Regardless of the fact she saw fit to gossip about anyone in any context, the officer who had overheard this little exchange didn't hesitate to correct her. The wife she was discussing does indeed 'go out' and is a significant contributor in the Anglo Oman society as well as having an active social life. But really, even if a wife never left their house, what business is it of hers to judge?
Classy? Not so much.
