Taxi drivers don't usually talk with female passengers, but sometimes I come up with some interesting types.
Two days ago, I got off the Mosallah metro station on my way to the publishers I do some work for. An old Paykan car (modelled on the British Hillman- remember those?) is parked outside. The battered boot bears this inscription:
"Everybody fears Death; I a dishonest friend"
I flag him down. A few minutes later we get stuck in traffic.
"Don't know where all these people are going in the middle of the day," he gripes.
"Shopping for the New Year maybe," I answer, and commit the mistake of giving away the fact that I am not Iranian. Maybe I smile too much.
"Are you foreign, lady?"
I assent, bracing myself for a round of questions.
“So what are you doing here? This is not a country fit to live in.”
“Well…I like it...your culture is interesting,” I venture.
“What’s so interesting about it? We live here because we’ve got no choice, but you?” He pauses. “Is your husband Iranian?”
“Yes, we only came seven months ago.”
“Before he gets too involved, pack up and go. This is no place for you.”
Last week, I came across a really funny taxi driver; he managed to extract a free introductory tutorial on modern Greek language and culture. He asked how we say hello and good morning, whether Greeks have a special sensitivity about their wives and daughters (used to, I said, but nowadays less than before). So, we are quite similar, he concluded, and I agreed.
Imagine having to drive through this traffic all day long. One needs to find something to occupy the mind. And what I find quite remarkable is that the vast majority of drivers are SO calm. Iranians and Greeks are unlike each other in this respect at least: Greeks lose their cool very easily when they drive, as if they feel the world is out to get them and they damn and blast their way through the crowded streets. On the contrary, Iranians are mostly unruffled by traffic and by the impudent motorbike who's just shot out of a side street and cut across them without even looking. It is what it is.