When several Omani employees and I were invited to a business function, one Omani male employee called a female Gibali employee to suggest that she not attend as the meeting would be held in a hotel at night and thus “not good.” I asked her if she was planning to attend and she laughed, “I was not thinking to go, but when he called to say I should not, I decided to go. If I want to go in the wrong direction, I do not need the night and I do not need a hotel.” My paper will explain how self-respect is equated to both self-control and freedom of choice within the Arab, Muslim, and tribal Gibali culture of southern Oman. Based on seven years of observations, interviews and research, I argue that the acceptability of individual decision-making, both for oneself and others, is stressed within Gibali culture. Social behavior is framed as a willing, not forced, submission to religious and/or family mandates. Deliberate attempts to control other people’s behavior are non-aggressively countered (as in the example above) or fitted into a rubric of independence by stating that one has decided not follow one’s inclination. Expats, visitors and I have noticed and remarked on how “quiet” life is in southern Oman as there are very few public displays of anger. In seven years of living in Salalah, the only raised voices I have heard in public are men arguing who will pay the bill in a cafe. None of the male Gibalis in my research group have been in a fight since arguments over football (soccer) games in their early teens. Peers who are angry or rude are teased and/ or shunned. Rudeness from strangers or those who are not peers is countered with avoidance or excusing/ ignoring the behavior. There has been very little anthropological work on the Gibali, Mahri or “town” cultures within the Dhofar region beyond Morris’ article and one unpublished dissertation: Tribal Practices and Folklore of Dhofar. Dawn Chatty has done extensive work with the southern Omani (but not Dhofari or Gibali) Harasiis tribe. The other anthropologists who have worked in Oman, including Barth, Christine Eickelman, Dale Eickelman, Limbert, and Wikan, were located in the northern part of the country. While there have been several academic publications about the Gibali language, I believe my paper would be the first academic presentation which focuses on Gibali culture.