Another Taxi Ride

Someone once told me that point A (where I wished I live) and point B (where I live) are only something like 10 kilometers apart (maybe it was 20...)...anyway. They aren't far apart. But traffic between the two places is absolutely horrid. It can take a mere 20 minutes if no one's on the road. Problem is--someone's always on the road. I've had it take 2 hours before. 45 minutes to an hour is completely normal.

So I'm at a mall in Point A today, and I tell the taxi driver, "Point B please." I always ask before I get in, because some of them will refuse to drive it because of the traffic. Mr. Pakistani laughs and says, "okay, okay..."

A few minutes later, he shows his true colors.

"Problem me smoke?"

"Please, I'd prefer you didn't. No. Thank you."

Grimace appears on Mr. Pakistani's face. He then begins to explain very agitatedly the problem.

"Too much traffic! No money I make take you Point B! Sit in too much traffic! No smoke! Two hours traffic I return before Point A. No business return Point A. No money I make! You say no smoke! Traffic so bad Point B!"

He honks with every syllable for emphasis, so that the other cars also know that he is upset for taking me to Point B. I mumble to myself, "You should not have allowed me to ride in your taxi then. The traffic's not my fault."

My grumbling (and not permitting him to smoke) angered him further so that he began to inch his way into lanes that were not actually lanes, so as to get ahead of everyone else. I began to pray in earnest that I would not die in this taxi, either by accident or by murder. He's still yelling about the traffic, sometimes in English, sometimes in Urdu.

"Why you make me drive Point B? No money I make! No business return Point A! No money! Ooooohh...traffic!

We finally get to my apartment building. I paid him double, so that he would not be slighted for having to drive me out to Point B. Mr. Pakistani's face falls in shame for having yelled at me for 45 minutes.

"OOOooohhh...so sorry! No angry, okay? No angry! So sorry! No angry?"

"Not angry," I respond. 'Just grateful to be alive and home,' I mumbled to myself.