In the Taxi, Vox Populi

Snippets of conversations overheard in taxis in Marrakesh, Tunis, Cairo, Beirut, Algiers and Dubai. What better way to take the pulse of a city?

Concept: Mouna Anajjar. Words: Camélia Sarnefors.

ALGIER

With covid, flights are only 20% full. For a year and a half, we were all out of work. It’s really been a kick in the face. Then again, it is a global crisis, so we can’t really complain.

So how did you manage the situation?

There are 300 of us taxis at the airport. We all took a vote and decided to work only every other day. At least this way we don’t go home with empty pockets–or less empty than before, anyway.

What do you do the rest of the time?

I stay home. I find things to do. I water my garden. There’s a little waterfall, so I get it going and then have a seat next to it while I smoke or drink a coffee. I don’t go out much, except to go grocery shopping. I’m more than 60 years old, you know, even though my body doesn’t show it. Sometimes, I like to chill on the swings as well.

Omar, 65, taxi driver for 40 years. Saturday, September 25, 2021, 12:45 a.m.
Algiers airport–Hydra. Silver-gray Toyota Corolla.

TUNIS

Hi, ma’am. Doing well?

It’s my husband. I don’t know what to do. I want to ask him for a divorce… he drinks all day long. His entire salary goes to nightclubs, parties and booze. He doesn’t give a dime to his family, me, the kids.

Stay calm, ma’am. These things happen to couples. Don’t give up hope.

Please help me. Tell me what I can do. Give me some ideas. He drinks like a fish, and it’s become unbearable for us. I don’t even know how to pay for the kids’ school.

You should stay with him, if you ask me. He’s your husband, after all.

I want a divorce. I’m sick of it. I’m suffering.

Think of the children. It’s best you stay together.

Ridha, 52, taxi driver for 26 years. Friday, October 15, 2021, 10:38 a.m.
Bab Souika- Sijoumi. Yellow Skoda Octavia.

CASABLANCA

What did you tell your mother?

Nothing.

She didn’t ask any questions?

I wanted to tell her that I was going to a party, but with Covid and the curfew… I prefer to avoid any problems. Why?What did you say?

I said I was going to Hiba’s place, but I am not sure she believed me.

Why do you say that?

I don’t know. Just the way she was talking to me.

She let you take a cab?

I told her that Hiba and her father were going to come by and pick me up.

And she didn’t come out to make sure?

No. She must have had a glance from her bedroom window, but I wasn’t paying attention. Anyway, ever since she saw me wearing the pendant you gave me, I think she knows what’s up.

You wear it a lot?

Every day. I love it.

I missed you.

I missed you too.

Mehdi, 30, taxi driver for 5 years. Saturday, April 24, 2021, 9:58 p.m.
Ma.rif–Bourgogne. Red Dacia Sandero.

DUBAI

How did you do that?

Playing basketball.

Is it broken?

Yeah. Ankle fracture.

Same thing happened to me a few years ago.

What happened?

Nothing crazy. I fell off a step on the stairs at home, at my place.

Ah… that must have hurt.

It was pretty painful. Do you give yourself the jab every day, so that the blood flows right?

Yeah, every day.

How much did that cost you?

I bought them in Morocco, in Casablanca. It was 150 dirhams for two doses, that rounds up to around 60 UAE dirhams.

That’s outrageous. I was in Spain when it happened, and it cost 3 euros for 60 doses.

That’s impossible! That’s almost free! And 60 dirhams for two doses is highway robbery!

Maybe in Spain they offer some help.

Definitely. After I fractured my ankle, I stayed two weeks here in Dubai. They told me there was no need for a cast. Once I got back to Spain, they told me the opposite. So I had a cast put on, but it was already too late.

Yeah, that’s annoying. In my case, I put on the cast the first day, in Casablanca.

You should have brought back some jabs and resold them here.

But that’s illegal. It’s contraband!

I’m kidding.

Malik, 34, driver for 3 years. Tuesday, October 19, 2021, 5:02 p.m.
Dubai airport–Business Bay. White Toyota Prius.

BEIRUT

It was a Thursday afternoon. I was going to pick up Léa and Carl at the International College of Beirut, around 2 p.m. They’re both 12 years old and get picked up together. Like a lot of students there, their parents work all day and don’t have time to drive them to school in the morning or come get them in the afternoon, so me and the other drivers from the agency take care of it, using a system based on neighbourhoods and grade level. For several days we had been hearing far-off gunfire between the different, opposing political parties here in Lebanon. That Thursday, the classes emptied out much earlier than usual. The school urgently contacted the parents and asked them to come pick up their kids as soon as possible so that they could close the building. The gunfire was becoming much too dangerous. Luckily, I wasn’t far away and got call from the office telling me about the plan. Léa and Carl were very scared. It was mayhem in front of the school. Léa was crying nearly the entire trip. “The shots are way off. Close your eyes and go to sleep. We’ll be home in no time,” I said, trying to reassure her and Carl. It really hurt me to see them like that.

Roger, 60, taxi driver for 10 years. Thursday, October 14, 2021, 3:32 p.m.
Ras Beirut–Achrafieh. Champagne-coloured Mercedes Class C.

CAIRO

Where do you come from? I don’t recognize your accent.

My father is Egyptian. I left the country a long time ago, when I was 13. But I come back from time to time.

I thought that might be the case. Is it nice to be back?

Hugely. But every time I come back, the prices have doubled or even tripled. I don’t get it.

Eight years ago my electric bill was 100 pounds per month. Now I’m paying 800. That’s how it is. The prices have only continued to climb over the last decade, and Covid hasn’t helped. The president, Mister al-Sissi, has decided to cut back the aid they were giving to help us pay our water bills, our electricity bills, our food.

I don’t think that’s a solution. All you have to do is look out the window. Poverty is pretty much everywhere. And I understand the people!

What do you mean?

If someone was trying to break into my house to steal something, for example, I would let them do it. Anything he could take would be much more useful to him than to me. It might even serve a good purpose, like feeding his kids.

Ahhh. If everyone thought like you, we would live in a much better world.

It’s inhumane to let people live like that. They don’t even have the means to pay their bills.

We all should have voted for you.

Amr, 55, driver for 11 years. Saturday, July 24, 2021, 11:11 p.m.
Zamalek–Sheikh Zayed. Silver-gray BYD F3.