Daring To Drive

Daring To Drive

Adult nonfiction
"The secret police came for me at two in the morning. The
second knock on the door quickly followed the first. They were loud,
hard knocks, the kind that radiate out and shake the door frame. My
five-year-old son was asleep, but I was awake still, sitting up with
my brother."
Those knocks on the door were the beginning of a real life
nightmare for Manal al-Sharif. After interrogations during which she
was not allowed to have her brother present she found herself in a
filthy, cockroach infested prison, unable to contact family members or
anyone who could potentially rescue her.
"It turned out that I didn't need to call anyone in my family to
let them know where I had gone. The newspaper, the television, the
radio, and the Internet had already done it for me. By the time I'd
fallen asleep, all of Saudi Arabia knew that Manal al-Sharif, the
woman who drove, was in jail."
That was the crime Manal was jailed for--driving: not driving
under the influence of drugs or alcohol, not driving to endanger, but
driving while female. If you're asking, "What kind of nation can do
that?" you must read her Daring To Drive. I guarantee this memoir
will be an eye opener right from the beginning.
"I was born on the floor of our cramped apartment in the city of
Mecca on April 25, 1979. My mother was alone, except for my older
sister, who was barely much more than a toddler herself. My father
had been out when she went into labor, and under Saudi rules and
customs, my mother could not be admitted without a male guardian or a
mahram to accompany her to the hospital. There were no exceptions.
She couldn't even call for help because our apartment had no phone."
Seriously!
If I was to list all Manal had to endure because of her gender,
this review would well exceed anyone's attention span. I guess you'll
have to read the book yourself. If you're a feminist you'll really
want to.
On a personal note, yesterday was my first work day at the UMaine
cafeteria system. I helped make sandwiches. Everyone I was working
with seemed really nice. After I got off work I went over to Alfond
(ice hockey) Arena to work on Clean Sweep, the yard sale all other
yard sales wish they were. The rest of this week and all of next week
that's what I'll be up to. My vacation summer camp. In a few minutes
I'll be grabbing the bus to campus.
A great big shout out goes out to my new work family and my clean
sweep crew.
jules hathaway


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