До чего доводит чрезмерное использование автомобилей
Я, конечно, понимаю, что российским жителям до такого далеко. Причём, как с точки зрения массовости автомобилей, так и с точки зрения контроля и внимания по отношению к детям со стороны системы образования и служб опеки. Хотя, с учётом последних веяний в последнем я не столь уверен.
Вот какая забавная история приключилась. Одной американской маме из штата Мэриленд довелось иметь не самую весёлую переписку с директором школы по поводу того, что дочка ездит на занятия на автобусе. У директора возникли опасения, хорошие ли у пятиклассницы родители, коли они не могут отвезти девочку в школу на машине.
It had been brought to her attention, the principal said, by some “concerned parents,” that my daughter had been riding the city bus to and from school. I said, yes, we had just moved outside of the neighborhood, and felt that this was the most convenient way for our 5th grader to get there and back. The principal asked was I not concerned for her safety? “Safety from what?” I inquired. “Kidnapping,” she said reluctantly. I said that I would not bore her by talking statistics that, being in the business of taking care of young children, she surely knew better than I did. She reminded me that our transfer application (a formality in cases such as ours, when the student has less than a year left to complete at their former school) has not yet been submitted, and that if we were “unable to provide transportation,” the central office would not approve this transfer. I assured her that we were perfectly able to provide transportation, but were choosing to avail ourselves of the city’s excellent public transportation system instead.
Желающие могут воспользоваться услугами гуглопереводчика для прочтения этого пассажа =)