In the States we met a very nice non-American dad who swears that statistically children in car seats are not any better off than children not strapped in. We didn’t ask for any documentation. We didn’t argue. We just agreed never to let that guy drive our kids anywhere. Apparently Bolivia subscribes to the same school of thought (or it is a cultural/socio-economical thing, but again, I don’t necessarily base my observations on anything other than what I think is funny). Every time the Bolivian driver comes to pick us up, he watches with what appears to be amusement as we wrestle two car seats in and out of his white Suburban. I wish I had the ability to read his thought bubble because I am pretty sure he’s thinking that we Americans are all alike with our silly car seats. Either that or he is playing “American Bingo” and marks a square for every stereotypical behavior we display.*
School doesn’t start for a few months, but already we’re trying to figure out how to get The Boy to and from school in a taxi. If we offer to pay more, will the driver pull out the seat belts that are neatly tucked away? The other day The Nanny asked if she could take The Girl to the store with her. When I realized she was going in a taxi, I said no… not even when she promised to hold onto The Girl tightly. The next day while we were at the Embassy, The Boy went to the market with The Nanny and The Cook. When we got home he was telling us in his two-year-old babble about what he did. He kept talking about a “cawr.” When MH translated for The Cook she said (in Spanish), “Oh yeah, we took him in a taxi.” If it weren’t for the fact that her cooking is incredible, we would have spit out our potatoes covered in peanut sauce. MH tried to explain that we don’t want him in a taxi under any circumstances unless he’s in the car seat. I am pretty sure that she got the picture because whenever they leave the house they make sure to tell me, “No tax-i Senora.”
*I’d like to point out, though, that he was the one to take us to Burger King when we asked if there was somewhere to get a sandwich. He doesn’t get to mark off any blocks for that one!
