I agree Trafalgar - in that past EK was a great place to work and as you rightly stated there are many pilots there who have done well. However, given the behaviour and attitude of the "locals", the ME is no place to be taking your wife and daughter(s).
For the younger pilots, true, it could be a fun place for a limited period of time.
In the ME, if riding in a taxi and the taxi gets hit by an Emirati, it's not the Emiratis fault, it's not the taxi drivers fault...it's yours. Arab logic says that if you had not been in the country, there would not have been an accident.
So if you are single, yeah EK is a go - for a limited period of time. Take two buckets...one for cash, one for ME BS. Which ever gets full first...time to leave. However, the one for cash will never fill.