The AFWJ Guide and Selected Articles from the AFWJournal

Page 40

Columns

One mobile phone makes a dash for freedom from undisguised interest and bewilderment. a shirt pocket and lands with a plop in the water to be fished out with the golf club a little worse for wear And…? (does this count as a job-related expense?). How did it all end? One lone and very lonely duckling was spotted half Sorry to disappoint you but I can only guess as I had way down the drain. been hanging out at the over JA-ed intersection for A dozen more ducklings were trying to escape from the nearly an hour now and I had to get back to work. My friend S did eventually find the JA garden shop (on her basket. own) and, after browsing awhile, returned to her car A frazzled mother duck was torn between rushing to past the JA insurance office and reported no sign of the side of the two groups of kids and making dashes at people, duck or ducklings so we can only hope all went the people looming around. well and duck, ducklings, JA employees and city hall Drivers in cars stopped at the lights on all sides of representative all got home safely with a rather unusual the intersection were watching this pantomime with tale to tell over dinner.

Japan Rant!

By Rantie McGee with a special appearance by Ravette

The Safety Rant & Rave Dear Ravette, So, I’ve heard that Japan is a “safe” country. Maybe no average Jojis here have guns in their homes, but there are so many car safety violations here that I would love to see people arrested or at least ticketed for.

EXAMPLE THREE: A friend of my husband’s drove us to a BBQ party at his home one time (before we had had children). In the car with us was his wife and six month old baby who was sitting on her mommy’s lap in the front seat! Then, the mother passed the baby back to me and I buckled her in her rear-facing car seat, which had been pointlessly taking up nearly half of the back seat. The baby started to cry and I was TOLD to take her back out of her car seat and pass her back up front! I couldn’t believe it!

EXAMPLE ONE (as seen in tons of cars throughout Japan): I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen toddler car seats in the FRONT SEAT of cars around the area I live in! Don’t Japanese parents know that an airbag is extremely dangerous for toddlers and children under And it’s not just babies and toddlers whose safety is 13? In Japan, I might even change that to 15 because compromised here. Japanese kids are generally smaller. Airbags are made to save adults and explode out of the dash at speeds of EXAMPLE FOUR: One of my husband’s coworkers around 200 miles per hour! I know drove us to a summer company event most people try to be safe drivers, (also before we had kids) with his two but accidents happen. And when an kids in his van. I couldn’t believe that accident happens, then it’s too late. he and his wife let their kids RUN UP AND DOWN the center of the EXAMPLE TWO: I’ve even had van while we were driving. a student who drove with his infant daughter on his LAP! I tried to EXAMPLE FIVE: My brother inmention it to him, but he didn’t even law’s kids are NEVER buckled in! We blink. I wasn’t in the car with them, went to the beach with my brother otherwise I would have insisted that in-law’s family (separate cars) and he put her in her car seat. when we got back to their place 38 The AFWJ Guide

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