Certainly not a nanny state

I went to the store after lunch today to buy some chewing gum. While I waited for change, a small, barefoot child came in and stood on his tippy toes to put one rupee on the counter. He was no older than three and could not see above the three-foot counter. The cashier gave him two small chocolate candies for his rupee, and the satisfied boy wandered outside.

I followed him outside and looked for his parents. He didn't appear to belong to anyone. This store was on a very busy street and traffic in India doesn't exactly obey lines, speed limits or rules of any sort. As the child walked, he looked down, focusing on opening his chocolates. He was oblivious to the honking rickshaws, and nobody paid any attention to him.

What's striking here is that his three-year-old child was alone amid heavy midday traffic, and nobody thought it was abnormal except for me. I feel confident, however, that this barefoot toddler will be just fine. So I left.

Several scenes here have made me wonder whether the U.S. truly is a "nanny state." In California, lawmakers proposed last year to ban smoking in cars with children. Here, entire families of four -- mom, dad and youngsters -- ride without helmets on one motorcycle. In the U.S., parents would probably be jailed for such behavior.

I'm not saying riding without helmets is a good thing. Likely some one, some day will get hurt. But accidents happen here and everywhere. We can't pass laws to prevent them all.

I would never let my nieces and nephew wander along a busy street alone, but I've come to realize what a luxury all our American coddling is.