New Kids Every Year

A three-year-old little girl stood at the front of her parents open-top Jeep Wrangler as they drove up the hill from Skala into the hills that lead to Northern Patmos. The rounded sharp curves and traversed bottlenecks in the road. Eventually, when reaching the summit of the first hill, they turned onto the narrow, bumpy, steep road down to Agriolivadi. We drove right behind them. 

Only minutes prior, as we were navigating the narrow streets of our neighborhood, Sennen asked, "If you hit someone in this car would it kill them? Or is it too small? It's just a Fiat Panda."

I explained that a Fiat Panda can kill someone at speed and that even at the very low speed at which we were going it could seriously hurt someone it touched. 

With those words ringing in my ears, I stared in horror at the Wrangler and the little girl, her head above the roof-line, wind on her face like a golden retriever. Certainly, it's difficult for there to be any high-speed traffic on Patmos, but given the vast majority of cars are manual transmission, the possibility of something going wrong on a hill is significant and it wouldn't take much force to send a little standing three-year old flying backwards or forwards out of a open-air Jeep Wrangler. 

Locals have been complaining about the police checkpoints developing around Patmos – often right near Agriolivadi. Perhaps because of increased tourism, the national government's desire to generate more funds and perhaps even to force conformity to islands that often thwart certain laws, there are more police taking a more active role than anyone here has ever seen. 

The Greek government is not always smart, but it's certainly not dumb. On islands, police are sent from outside, under national authority. Municipalities do not control their own law enforcement. This goes very contrary to the American system – but it makes a lot of sense. On an island where most people are at least distantly, if not closely related – how effective would local officers be. It's a recipe for favoritism and nepotism at best and east graft at worst. In 2019, Emily asked our friend Nicholas if he knows all the police officers just as he knows all the Patmians.

"No, and I don't want to!" he responded. 

That's exactly what the Greek government wants to hear.

Only with a typical complement of three to six officers, the police force has never been able to do much. The island is low on crime to begin with and a posting to Patmos has typically been an easy gig with paid housing while an officer is on rotation here. Being lax about enforcing the recent helmet laws and looking the other way when someone drives tipsy haven't bothered anyone. But they do present great opportunities to generate revenues.

So the national government has increased the police force and tasked them with strict enforcement to not only pay for themselves, but to bring some money into Greece's always meagre coffers – and if that happens to include revenue from tourists, all the better.

Checkpoints are nailing people who speed, drive or ride with BAC over the limit and who neglect seatbelts and helmets. All stuff we're perfectly used to at home. Patmians, however, are shocked at being stopped for riding a motorscooter after just one drink because the BAC limit on bikes is .02 percent. Cars are .05 percent. Both are lower than California's .08 percent – making it an easy infraction to find and write-up. 

This may be a shocking state of affairs for Patmians, but there's nothing they can do – nor can their mayor or even regional government. 

Unsurprisingly, it has forced Patmians to comply. Both Stefanos who rents me my motor scooters and Dimitris who rents me cars were VERY careful about paperwork this year. Stefanos has a new stock of helmets and ensures people understand the importance of them. Given last year's sales-tax enforcement auditor visit to the island, both are recording more of their income on official receipts compared to before where they gave me a cheaper price because they took a large part of their revenue in cash and kept it off the books.

Despite all of that – probably because it was around noon and heading uphill – there were no police who witnessed that little girl standing in the Jeep Wrangler. My kids, being well-trained Californians were beyond alarmed for the little girl and even suggested calling the police. I thought about calling my mom who campaigned for child seatbelt laws in California and who would be much harsher about he situation than the police. After all, the police would likely just give them a ticket – my mom would give them a piece of her mind.

While Patmians may be catching up with some of the legal basics we're used to in California, we're returning to the social basics Patmos still retains. This morning, after sleeping in until past ten, the kids both ran errands – Ailyn to the grocery and pharmacy, Sennen to the bakery and produce shop. Both minded the prices, got change, picked the right things, and make some on-the-spot decisions when certain things weren't available (ie the grapes didn't look fresh enough and the strawberry toothpaste was a brand Ailyn didn't like). They got help, asked questions. In short, they were responsible shoppers. 

Last night while I was on a work call at 10pm, Ailyn went shopping for a purse. All the stores are open and she had birthday money burning a hole in her pocket. She came back with a cute little purse she had her eye on and told me she got a deal almost 50 euros cheaper than the most expensive store. She noticed four places that carried it, went to each and bought where she could get the best price – which was at a shop two down the street from our house. I wouldn't be surprised if Ailyn got a neighbor and repeat customer discount – she bought a pair of sandals there last year after an exhaustive shop and the proprietress is very fond of Ailyn.

"I'm very selective with how I spend my money," Ailyn told me. It's true – she likes to shop, and she likes it to last- and to get the most for her euro.

I've been impressed not only at how well the kids shop, but how comfortable they are doing it. Clearly, this is their island, their community and they are fully claiming their places. This morning while the kids were out running errands and groceries magically returned while I was able to do other tasks like packing for the beach and folding laundry, I thought not only is this year shaping up to be easier, but maybe I'm getting a glimpse of what it's like to have kids who can drive. I'm sure there are other pitfalls – but in essence, it's like both of my kids just got drivers licensees because they can be limited, independent agents.

It seems so healthy for us all. And it absolutely got us up and out to the beach much faster.

How will all of this affect our summer overall? That remains to be seen – but it has some strong promise. When the kids were little, it felt like every year, we had new kids. As they get older, it feels like the speed of change slowed some. But maybe not. This year's kids are definitely different than last year – and I can see even more change from the year before. I'm a little scared of what the teenage years might bring. Maybe I shouldn't be. Every age has its wonders and drawbacks. I'm going to hope for the best – knowing it may be less pretty than I would like. They are small people developing into bigger ones and to get myself to sleep at night, I'm going to choose to believe (or delude myself) that these summers – these times of freedom and self-direction will make them more capable and perhaps have less need to rebel. This is an opportunity for freedom with a giant safety net – so we'll make the most of it and enjoy what it brings.