A conversation with alex....

Ok a few background notes before I get into it about Alex...

In Spain, there are a high number of motorcycles, mopeds, ATVs and dirt bikes that use the streets an highways. No ATVs or mopeds on the highways of course. But in the small towns and sometimes in between, you find yourself pulling double duty playing defensive driver with all the 2 wheeled motorists darting thru traffic. And when I say darting, I mean that exactly. Have you ever had a glass and filled it with stones? then proceeded to pour sand in it and watch the sand slip thru the larger stones as gravity pulls the grains down toward the bottom of the glass thus filling in all the little available spaces. Well the 2 wheelers of Spain are the grains of sand and driving lanes are the glass. I guess that makes me a big lumbering stone.

When you come to a red light, it´s common to see many helmeted motorist trickling their way to the front of traffic. as if it was their born right to be ahead of you. So I have a family and we all like to ride with some protection and a few airbags. Just because you decided to brave the cold winter winds on 50 miles to the gallon chariots does not make you better than me. If your power windows were not working and you decided to open your door to spit while stopped in traffic, beware, there may be a motorist or two in your blind spot creeping up on you.

And this behavior is not just for stop lights. It´s in moving traffic. In a normal 2 lane road there are actually 5 lanes, or so you would believe. here are the two clearly marked lanes for the cars, complete with a dashed center line, solid yellow line on the left and solid white on the right. then there are the passing lanes for motorbikes. the will pass you to the right, middle and left. I have spent a collective of 6 months total in Spain and seen too many fallen riders bathed in flashing lights from ambulances and police or tarps on the roads to count. thank goodness for laws on wearing a helmet.

The second part of the background story ties into the rituals and practices of the Xmas holiday. See here, Santa Claus is not the centerpiece of every child´s imagination this time of the year. Rather, this Catholic state focus on the Three Kings. You know the story of little baby Jesus in the manger visited by the 3 kings. Well that´s the big gift giving holiday here. so today, the helpers of the 3 kings visited Alex´s school. During this event, the children write cards to give to them to take to the 3 kings to inform the 3 kings of what they want for the holiday season in the way of gifts. Now onto my conversation with Alex...

So riding home tonight from dinner, I commented out loud at how disappointing it was that some bike riders...well all of them...seem to be a bit carefree and risky with their choices on the road. they cut you off and weave in and out of traffic without a care. It can be frustrating to a new driver in Spain as compared with driving down Rt. 301. Still I was frustrated enough to say it out loud. Of course, Alex, with his sonar shaped ears that ironically can hear every curse word I mange to utter but I have to tell him to brush his teeth 5 times a night, heard every word. Carme took this moment to bring up a funny story.

She asked Alex what he did at school today and he seemed reluctant to tell me. After some struggling, he went into the story of the visitors to his school today, the 3 kings´helpers. Being the slick parent, I asked him what he asked for in his letter to the 3 kings. He shyly regressed from telling me. I pushed further and he admitted I would be mad at him. After reassuring him that daddy would not be mad at him and I was genuinely interested, he responded after a long sigh and pause...he wanted a motorcycle.