Riding In Cars With Boys

One of the many things I took for granted when I was outside Jeddah was, you guessed it, riding in cars with boys. I first realized this last year when my cousin PJ called me up at 2am to ask if it would be ok in Jeddah if he came to pick me up so we might cruise around the city, something we used to do in Manila.

IMHO, it's one of the most entertaining pastimes and rites of passage any girl worth her guy friends can go through. Boys play nice music, they drive fast and efficiently, they know how to park, their cars work properly, and you are safe in the knowledge that if and when the car breaks down, it's all taken care of. In addition to that, some of the funniest, nastiest, most disgustingly hilarious jokes and pranks take place inside a car with boys. Even on mild-joking days, there's always the oldest trick in the book, popularly known as Who Farted.

I remember spending time inside my guy friends' and cousins' cars. Sometimes, I ignore their crass jokes, sometimes I pitch in my two cents, sometimes I block them out when they become really dirty, and most of the time, I just roll down the window and let the bad air out.

In Jeddah, however, things are a little more complicated than just calling up a guy friend and getting in the car. I'm not encouraging youngsters to step out and meet random members of the opposite sex. I'm talking about people who have known each other forever, or people who are friends, cousins or otherwise related, or girls who just need rides home.

For these people, when it comes to transportation, there are other considerations to make. There's an age-old process that had been established by many young men and women before us, a sacred ritual that may not be overlooked. It could cost you your social life. The three major ones:

The Type of Car
Jeddah was never a place for single people. It has always been agreeable towards married couples, or families. Not boys with nice cars. Boys with nice cars are not married. Or they say they're not. Either way, they are Police magnets, especially if the abovementioned cars contain women. Therefore, guys who are planning on transporting women friends are encouraged to use the family station wagon, preferrably one with a sticker in the back that swears "Baby On Board".

The Relationship
Friends must establish their relationship way before they even THINK of getting in the car. This is crucial because, in the unfortunate event that you are apprehended, you could at least say you're cousins N-times removed. Don't forget to memorize each other's middle names, parents' names, addresses, and tribes of origin. It's a long shot, but a shot nonetheless.

Body Language
According to an unofficial study conducted by the National Riding In Cars With Boys Association, the number one reason for busts involving Friends In Cars is the little telltale signs of body language. Be comfortable. Think brother-sister. Try as much as you can not to dart your eyes from side to side. Don't be stiff. Don't be afraid to use hand gestures. Hit the driver for added effect. If you can hit him on the back of the head like his mom or sister would do, even better. Act as natural as possible.

There are many other precautions to take, but those, I shall leave to your sense of common. Bottom line is, unless you absolutely have to, don't ride in cars with boys. In a city like Jeddah, it might not be worth it, anyway.

However, if these two happen to be your friends, by all means, ride.



(Squeek and Sonic Boom, courtesy of Shari)

Some of my friends who are fun to ride in cars with: Aymen, Fayez, Ahmed, Waleed, Abdullah, and Majed, just to name a few.**


** Names may have been changed, and real names used, to protect the identities of these young men.