I like Ramadan, and while I understand the pressures of give and take, and the chances of nerves getting ever so slightly frayed, I feel that if you chose to come and work in the Middle East, then you have to take the rough with the smooth - albeit losing sleep during the call to prayer in the morning.
There is a mosque right beside my house. They built it last year with donations from the local community and from generous contributions from some people outside of it.
Having lived beside airports, train stations and a port (try a fog horn at 4am - it makes the call sound like a lullaby!), I get used to the noises quite quickly and now I don't even hear the calls at night. I am lucky I guess.
But seriously...this is the Middle East and Ramadan has been going on for far longer than you or I have even known about the region.
We choose to come here, we get paid fairly well, and yes, we take a lot of crap and "disrespect" but it's only for a month - and it is their religion.
While I am on the subject, I hear too much BS comments about the locals being hypocrites in relation to their religion. Complaints about locals drinking in bars and chatting up women.
These comments hold no water - it is the same everywhere - check out any religion in Europe or the UK.
Excess drinking is not condoned, and if memory serves me right, all good little children of God should be fasting on a Friday. In fact, my grandmother used to fast on Wednesday and Friday - Lord rest her soul.
There are the devout in all religions: Islam and Christianity included. If you have as much as looked sideways at the perfectly formed backside of the CSD on a flight and drooled, while your wife is at home with the kids, then you are just as guilty as anyone else.
So, while I have all the sympathy in the world for those of you who get woken up by the call, you have to realise that you chose to come here, and if you didn't research it fully then that's your lookout. As the Aussie government guy said a few years ago "You have options."
Works both ways.
(Helmet and body armour on)