Beirut cab

Eight at night; a very big-10-kg bag and a friend.

I just wanted to get home, tired and in a hurry to be in my own home.

So my friend and I were walking in the streets of Beirut to catch a service, this service driver see us and stops so we got into the car with him. Since I was carrying my big-10-kg bag, and out of politeness, I sat next to the driver so I wont take much space in case he finds another customer. Shortly after, the driver asks us:

- Where are u going after dawra?

- Jounieh

So he offered to take us there if we pay an additional service, we agreed thinking it was out of good will. I always get confused feeling towards service drivers when they are polite, or good, it’s either they want something from you, which is very disgusting, or it’s a Miracle.

He drove and then a guy wanted to go to Sabtiye so the driver agreed knowing that it is not really on his way to Jounieh or Dawra but we didn’t say anything, we thought he just want to make a living. And then the guy started to try opening a conversation with me, I replied at first a very short and serious answer. Then, he started joking around trying to look funny, that’s when he got a frown, and another and another, and he ended up asking me where are we going, camping, since I am carrying a big bag. Again I didn’t answer, but did he even get the sign? No. I think that most of the time, such people’s ego doesn’t allow them to get that fuck-off-and-just-drope-home sign. He kept trying to talk to me but my friend and I were both ignoring him, as well as the old man who was in the backseat, and then when we got to Sabtiye, my friend asked me to come sit next to her and it was what I was thinking of. When I stepped out of the front seat, the old man looked at me and said “ l na2le fiya faraj” which means that even the old guy understood how uncomfortable I was by the constant attempts the driver to hit on


me.

Meanwhile and in all the naivety in the world, I felt a bit of guilt thinking that maybe the guy was just bored and wanted to start a conversation, or maybe he was just trying to be friendly, but that wasn’t really the case and as soon as we got to Dawra the guy stopped the car and he was like:

- I’d like to apologize from you girls I can’t drive you to Jounieh anymore.

Can It Get More Obvious?! Can u believe the asshole?

It’s the first something like this happens to me. Usually men give it a try but still know their limits and drive you

to where promised. But not this asshole.We paid him and got out of the car with all the shock in the world.

My friend said that it’s not the firs

t time it happens, and it have happened to her before. And we thought that I could have just pretended the Lebanese way nothing was happening and stayed in the front seat. But not with this feminist not in this world!

Later on that night, I had to take another service because my house is far from where the bus drops me,

and for my surprise



the only car available was driven by a woman. You cannot imagine how extremely safe I felt, and comfortable. And you cannot imagine, in ten minutes, how many cars pressed there horns and tried to pass just because it’s a service driven by woman. I think after all the bullshit with the hairy taxi driver this woman made my night.