Cab Talks IV
By Mirvat Safsouf, Staff Writer

Beirut, Lebanon - Are you in Disneyland, Luna Park or now more familiar with Habtoor Land?
No, you are in a cheap wild rollercoaster ride known as the Lebanese “service”!!!

You are in for the ride of your life. Yes, I’m talking about these fearless human beings who think of nothing but squeezing between a double-decker bus and a double-parked taxi to accomplish their rally and win a 1,000 LBP from the passenger as a trophy.

By definition, taxi drivers should “help passengers to get from their homes to their workplaces or any other destinations and vice versa.” But as usual, this theory doesn’t conform to the real world we are living in when it comes to Lebanon.

Today, for taking a cab in Lebanon you have to first, buckle up your seatbelt as fast as you can (if it is available!). Second, send a goodbye SMS to your mother. Third, close your eyes and enjoy a safari with a cheerful driver after a rough day.

Driving down the road, you can not miss the traditional symphony of updated swearwords from private drivers versus local ones. Taxi drivers’ actions make them stand out, such as flagging down with the hand instead of the light signs, chatting on the phone and barely looking at the road or even more common, stopping in the middle of the road to refuel with a bottle full of gas. Sure, taking a right or left turn suddenly is quite familiar for all of us now.

The bottom line is that while you are waiting for a change, cab drivers have an encyclopedia of new rules of circulation that we obviously have to follow. In the end, if you know how to handle driving in the Amazon roads of Lebanon, you can drive in any other country in the world!

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