I used to be nostalgic

A 10-digit address system in Dubai will eliminate convoluted attempts to organise home deliveries. Will anyone miss the old days?

Christmas will never be the same. By the time the festive season rolls around next year, every home in Dubai is expected to have a unique 10-digit GIS code which will enable delivery drivers to find the exact location within a metre. The Makani (my location) scheme will mean that no longer will directions involve a convoluted series of landmarks including distinctively named shops or restaurants.

While this is undoubtedly good news, like every improvement that makes the UAE a more efficient and organised place, it also has the prospect of making life slightly greyer and less interesting.

Nostalgics should savour the remaining time in which they will be telephoned by a flustered delivery driver and try to find words in a common language to explain that the driver should turn right at the Excellent Mens Saloon, left at Happy Summer Food Stuffs, backside of the Safestway Supermarket, at which point the addressee will stand on the street like an imbecile saying things like: “Me waving hands. You see me, yes?”

But it also means that Christmas gifts and other deliveries will actually reach their intended destination. Nostalgics can hanker all they like for the old ways, but let the rest of us embrace the future.