Tattle tales

Ok, I'm going to do a bit of a rant again.

I really, really get upset when I see children who are unrestrained in cars.  They are all sizes - from babies held in their mother's arms in front seats, and toddlers hopping up and down between the front seats, or kneeling on seats and peering out windows.  They are everywhere, on every drive we take - and given the driving skills in this country, I just know that not all the stories will have happy endings.  I realize that we weren't seatbelt users when we were kids, but they didn't have any for goodness sake! and the cars were heavy metal, and there were never so many cars on the road, going at such high speeds.   I could really do with seeing some law enforcement sometime soon.

Here's another one - and I kid you not!  You can buy antidepressants like Effexor XR, some heart medications, and cholesterol drugs like Lipitor - over-the-counter.  You heard: otc!  Yes, just walk right in and pick one out.  "I'll have one of those, and maybe a couple of these, and ooh, yummy, definitely some of those".  I guess the pharmacists advice is enough, but I have my doubts.  Must be nice to choose your own dosage, decide on how long or how much to take, and then decide when you don't need them anymore - who cares about contra-indications, side-effects, weaning off of dosage or conflicts with other meds.  I shake my head.

Diabetes is quite the issue here as well.  The Bedouin diets of 50 years ago have been put on the back burner in exchange for all that lovely, oily, fatty fast food we all love so much in the West.  Portion size is just as out of hand here as at home, and weight is a burgeoning issue.   The problem, though, is that recognition of the disease is still low.  Children are still banned from attending some of the less enlightened schools, as personnel are afraid to deal with something they know nothing about.  There was a recent notification that special identification cards are being issued on request to be carried with the person so that diabetics can be identified if "they appear confused or drunk".  This is a good thing otherwise they would land in jail for drunk and disorderly conduct!  There is little training in the way of symptom recognition and emergency care in the schools and it was only this year that an education program has geared up to try and help.    I am happy to say that AWA's participation and donations allowed for presentations and leaflet distribution to all schools in Doha.  Let's hope these kids can start attending school.  The pictures you see is an intersection in Doha called "Cholesterol corner".

A bit of good news for nationals who are contemplating marriage.  There is a new law that requires genetic testing prior to getting married.  If the blood tests come back normal: good to go.  If they are not - the marriage may not take place and also, may be annulled if they have already happened.  With a significant number of marriages taking place between 1st cousins - this may be one test to line up for with enthusiasm.

Last one: A new law has been legislated so that minor crimes are punishable with community service.  Laudable, I believe. According to the newspaper article, however: "If a convict refuses to do community service, he would have the freedom to spend time in jail or pay a fine or do both, as decided by the trial court".  The freedom!! oh, bless me Lord.

Ah, well.  I feel better now.