ARE SAUDI WOMEN FREE AT LAST?

On Sunday, it became legal in Saudi Arabia for women to drive.  However, most of them probably won’t because there’s a lot of red tape involved in getting a driver’s license, and Saudi  conventional wisdom is that women are mentally unfit to drive.  Wow! Talk about being out of the loop. Numerous studies from many countries show that women have far fewer traffic accidents than men.

Remember when your teenage children finally got their driver’s license, and you no longer had to chauffeur them everywhere, at all hours of the day and night?  One of the happiest days of my life was when all three of my children could finally drive.  I would think Saudi men would feel a tremendous relief now that women can  drive their kids to school, shop, and run all the many errands that women in other countries have been doing for a century.

But at least it’s a step in the right direction.  Maybe someday, they will change the dress code.  I don’t know about you,  but I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach when I see a woman dressed in black from head to toe on a hot summer day, with  her face covered, except for her sad eyes peering out at the rest of the world where women are free.    Worse yet, you realize that this woman is probably married to a first cousin, because the only way she can meet men is at private family gatherings.  All of this inbreeding results in  high rates of rare genetic disorders like sickle cell anemia and Thalassemia.  Statistics show that  Saudi women are 13 times more likely to bear a child with a genetic disorder than women in other countries.   I know, it’s all part of their culture and it’s their own business—I guess.  But  my heart goes out to the women and girls in that country. 

WILL YOUR DRIVER'S LICENSE FLY?

Am I one of the few people who just heard about gold star 🌟 drivers' licenses? Apparently, most everyone knows that in October of 2020, you will need one if you want to get on an airplane. 

A lot of folks are starting to panic about what you must have to get a Real ID, indicated by a star in the upper right hand corner of your driver's license.  Indiana BMV printed a list of about 30 things you might use to get this ID: a W2 form, social security card, voter's registration, passport, birth certificate, utility bills etc. Since my license was about to expire,   I spent about a week compiling a bunch of stuff. With a folder full of paperwork, I arrived at the license bureau wondering if I'd brought enough documentation.  Apparently, I had a lot of company, because I saw other people with manila envelopes and file folders full of papers.   

The agent who waited on me seemed about as friendly as a hungry bulldog.  I suppose he’s sick to death of dealing with all this confusion and extra paperwork.  It turned out, I needed only three things to get the new license: passport, voter’s registration, and social security card. Since I haven’t worked for years, I was able to use my social security W2 form as proof of my number.  Those three documents , and my old license got me through the process as fast as dealing a deck of cards.  What I did not like was the new ruling about the pictures.  You can’t show your teeth when you smile, and have to lift your bangs to reveal your eyebrows.  The resulting mug shot makes me look so grim that I’m hoping no one ever sees it.

The irony of it is, I’m  so fed up with flying that I may never need this special ID.  But at least I know that if there’s some emergency forcing me  to stuff myself  into a crowded airplane,  my 🌟 license will fly.