When I first went to work in the Middle East it was awful, patients would try to give us all sorts of things and as we were a very - ahem! - multi-cultural environment, some staff members would not just accept stuff but actively solicit gifts.
Now that really WAS a minefield. It wasn't just boxes of chocs, fruit and a potted plant but I knew of someone who accepted a gold watch. Eventually limits were put in place, accepting more than token gifts without permission became a sackable offence and methods were worked out for tactful and acceptable ways of dealing with the gift giving in a culture that was very different to that which most of the professional staff came from ...
However, some years after that, in another hospital in a different part of the Middle East, where the 'gift' issue was not generally an issue that arose, as there were plenty of protocols in place for managing it, and the locals were more open to the outside world, I had an awkward moment.
I had to do a scan on a Sheikha (a minor princess) and all went well. Her maid came in to help her dress again, and as she and her entourage bustled out, her maid came up to me and stuffed something in a pocket of my uniform.
When they'd all gone, I turned to the consultant and said to him, ugh did you see that, the maid stuffed all the dirty tissues in my pocket. He said 'yes, ugh, do you want some gloves to take them out?' I said 'no, it's alright, I've got a t-shirt on under the top (they were like hip-length jackets) so I'll take it off, wash my hands, put a clean one o and deal with it later.' So I did, and I hung the 'jacket with someone else's dirty tissues in it' on the back of a chair. As I did so, the consultant started to push the chair out of the way then stopped. 'I don't think it's dirty tissues, Nora' he said.
I delved into the pocket. Wrapped in clean tissues was ... a great deal of money. We looked at each other. Then both said at the same time 'We have to report it'.
What a pity, and we did.
Never mind, the cash gifts office (or whatever it was called, it had an Arabic name) dealt with it and asked me what we would like for the department so I asked for a nice coffee machine and a set of crockery. Which was much appreciated by all the staff, we didn't have to go haring off to the canteen for a brew. But it was a sum of money that - although not lottery-level - even if divided between the two of us, would have made a big difference. Ah well.
