Street parking

Throughout the city of Rabat, men will help you parallel park, will watch your car (sometimes washing it), and will help you pull out into traffic, all for the small fee of a few dirhams. These men are identifiable by their royal blue lab coats. None of this activity is sanctioned by the government; in fact, when the city installs parking meters, it's still necessary to pay both the attendant and the meter.

These parking attendants are self-organizing. Within the network, they vy for the best streets and get to know the inhabitants. When they go out of town on vacation, they find a replacement. The blue coats are a tradition, not something official.

Around the corner from me, a new attendant appeared last week. He must be about 11 years old. I suppose he has to work -- despite governmental claims to the contrary, the economic crisis is hurting Morocco, especially in terms of tourism. This boy works all day, while American boys are in school learning to read and to reason. I've been giving a lot of thought recently to whether Morocco should being using French or English for international communications. Perhaps in doing so, I've been overlooking a much more serious problem: that of 50% illiteracy within the country.