How many toes do I have? How many taxis does Coatepec have?
Aug 20, 2017
Dad went to Xalapa one day to have his camera fixed. He took a taxi. He tested his limited Spanish on the the driver, "Cuanto taxi en Coatepec?" He knew there were a lot but just how many was what he was curious about.
"Mil cincuenta", the taxi driver responded.
"Wow, 1050." dad had exclaimed. Coatepec only had a population of 57,500.
When we were with my abuelos dad told them what the taxi driver had told him. My abuela said she didn't think that it was correct. Dad wondered if the taxi driver said 1050 because he saw a taxi with that number on it. Dad decided that he would see if he could see the taxi with number one and the one with 1050. He asked mom if she wanted to play.
"Play what?" she asked. She was a Rabbi and mother. She was very busy, especially with me.
"Watch the taxi numbers when we're out and see who can spot the lowest number and who can spot the highest." dad answered.
She looked at him rather sternly and said, "I am a Rabbi and a mother. I am very busy, especially with the baby."
There is nothing I love more than mom's or dad's validation!. And it was dad's validation that caught me off guard. He turned to me and asked if I wanted to play.
I now realize that I ought to have told dad, that if he was really serious about verifying the number of taxis in Coatepec, he should write down all the numbers from 1 to 1050 and cross out each number when he sees the corresponding taxi number. I think this is the first time I would be questioning dad. I wondered if he would be mad or disown me. Probably not because he had an open mind, I hoped!
While dad was busy contemplating the number of taxis in Coatepec, the world was experiencing the worse racism there had ever been. Right in the USA there was a gathering and march of white supremacists, neo-nazis and other undesirables. One of them drove a car into counter-protestors. Sadly, a young woman was killed and several others injured. The president of the USA could not bring himself to condemn those identified as the white supremacists. Instead, he placed equal blame; much like when it comes to Israel and Palestine.
The condemnation of the president was quick and furious. Overt racism and hatred was, and is, unacceptable by the liberals who prefer the myth of the USA being the beacon of freedom and justice for all. Dad says that Charlottesville was a test on how open the racists and their racism could be. Apparently, it was too open!
What really upset dad, he is always really upset about something, was the slowness of those who claim to represent the mainstream Jewish community to find their voice. They seemed unable to condemn the president, the same president that so ardently supports the state of Israel. A state displaying the same level fascism as the one displayed in Charlottesville!
Dad says that after Charlottesville, the USA will need to return to relying on systemic racism much like Israel used to do until it realized that not everywhere in world was there a belief that facism needed to be a thing of the past.
Postscript: Dad managed to spot taxis with the number 1 and 1050. He concluded that there were indeed 1050 taxis in Coatepec. The next day he saw a taxi with the number 2080. I am glad, even though I love my dad, like mom, I was too busy being the son of a rabbi and counting my toes to help dad spot taxis numbers.
