A Ride on the family motorcycle

A few weeks ago I got an email from my sister in law (hi Katie!) describing an outing she took our kids on with my brother Tyler. They loaded up the Utah Grahams in the family suburban (o.k., just understand, I am not a huge SUV loving gas hog American; I just have 6 kids and all their friends and stuff to haul around. A minivan just doesn't cut it any more..). So, they loaded our kids in the family Suburban and took them for a treat. Then we went out, and I observed the same type of activity here in Saigon-only minus the huge SUV. This (see the picture above) is the family car here in this city of millions of people. We have seen mothers holding newborn infants in their arms as they ride with their toddler sandwiched between dad on the motorbike. We've seen little children sitting in ratton "high chairs" which are placed at the head of the motorbike, just where an adults legs might rest, as they drive the streets to their destination. Women in dresses ride "side saddle" and often carrying loads of packages or groceries in their arms. The many women who wear the traditional Ao Dai look so regal as the silk top flutters in the wind, with the long silk pants keeping things modest. The only thing I haven't seen riding these bikes, unfortunately, are motorcycle helmets. Appearantly motorbike accidents are one of the leading cause of injury or death to Vietnamese children. But a campaign is under way to change that, and make the bikes a more safe mode of transportation for all those little bodies.

I've thought a lot about this, wondering how I would cope in my daily life if i didn't have the convenience of an air conditioned automobile to carry all my kids from one place to another. It occurs to me that my daily life is just so terribly different, and much of that is because I have the convenience of my car. My kids can go to a soccer practice in a carpool exactly because I own a car that can carry them. I can visit my sister on a regular basis precisely because I can toss the kids in their seats, buckle them up and speed down the freeway blasting kids tunes like I was a rock star. My car (and the roads, traffic laws and freeways that I drive it on) make my life inexpressively different, and I think I'm o.k. with that. I think I like the freedom of choice I gain because of that gas guzzling monster of a kid carrier.

But, I will tell you, that I have a deep and secret wish to cruise around these streets on a motorbike. The fun I would have zig zagging my way around pedestrians as I zoom around corners and speed along the sidewalks would be adrenaline pumping and oh so memorable. Zoom Zoom!