Presidential Elections & Going Solo

A chair in Hamra; So who's going to be the new man in the chair tomorrow? (nobody even talks about a woman here)

The elections are such a mess, you don’t even want to hear about that. I think that by tomorrow - after a fifth postponement (From delay comes cancellation, say the Dutch – ‘van uitstel komt afstel’) of presidential elections - we’ll be the only nation in the world to have no head of state.

Personally I don’t think this would be a great loss; it would make the current government illegal, and thus we are a country run illegally. This would suit the Lebanese spirit just fine. You may argue over the ‘run’ fact’. I don’t think Lebanese are easily ‘run’. We thrive on ‘lack of rules’ and so no president won’t be that big of a deal. We (the Lebanese) will just keep the show running, president or no president, government or no government. We probably do better without. Let’s see.

What was a big deal today, is that my son went solo today in the Lebanese ‘service’ system. Well, it was a big thing for me. He’s only 13 (not yet), and he’s getting more independent, so he’s got to learn to get around town on his own.

A ‘service’ is a shared taxi. You basically find a cab with other passengers that happens to go in the direction of your destination. It’s probably one of the quickest and most ecological efficient public transport systems in the world. You never have to wait, you do not need to memorize the duty schedule, you don’t have to worry you’ll miss the bus, and it’s absolutely cheap (well, for some). 1,000 for a ride. Sometimes a destination may be further, and you’ll need to pay for two rides, or hop into another ‘service.’

This is all I get to see of him these days.

Anyway, A’s always been the passenger in my car, but I’m pretty much done chauffeuring him around town, especially since his social life is about a 100 times more active than mine.
But I don’t think he knows the lay-out of the town, and as a mother, you see wolves lurking behind every lamppost. So off he went, from Hamra to Sodeco, with his cell phone. Strict instructions from Mom obliged him to phone once he got into the service, then call me to pass the license number, another call when he’d get out, and another call once he arrived at his destination. Hey, I’m paying for the phone card as well, so what if he’s got to call 55 times to his mommy to make sure he didn’t get kidnapped? No matter that kids do not get kidnapped in this place. Still.
He arrived. He thought it was no big deal. I think it was the biggest deal in the world. Screw the presidential elections; my son took his first service ride solo!

Mom & her body guards