In order to get to Heathrow on time for my flight to Lisbon last Friday, I had to take a taxi. I had to be at the airport for 6:30am, so I told the taxi company that I needed to be there for 6:15am to be on the safe side and the company recommended leaving at 5am... Not a good time of day for me! One of the advantages of taking a taxi though - I thought - would be to be able to sleep in the back of the car - rather than having to change the tube etc.
It all started at 5:05am. Taxi driver turns out to be Mr Chatty. Not a good start at all. Getting worse when he starts driving like an asshole...tailgating and trying to push cars out of his way. On a street where even I know (and I don't drive a lot in London) that there are speed cameras!
Then he proceeds to stop at a petrol station. I was slightly stunned and was wondering whether this is seriously normal practice. When they calculated how long it'll take to get to the airport, did they factor in petrol station breaks???? But that still wasn't the worst: when he returned (and by then I had closed my eyes, hoping he'd take the hint and leave me alone!), he bursts into the taxi: 'Do you know what just happened???!'
Hm, clearly not, cause I wasn't there...
He claimed that he had gotten petrol for £10 (and again: WTF??? Why do you stop to get petrol for a tenner with a passenger in the car?!) but had been charged £20. So, he had argued with the guy and challenged him to a fight (I'm not kidding, this happened!). Also, this was not the first time that they had tried to screw him over. The other day, he had paid a £20 invoice with a £50 note. And the guy didn't give him his change back. And he called him a thief....
He then found out that I am from Germany - and what a pleasant surprise to hear that he had moved from Ghana to Germany, where he played football before he then moved to the UK, as Germany (at the time in the early 90s) was very racist (his words).
This is when I thought I better put a stop to this. So, I told him that I was rather tired and asked him whether it might be possible for him to just let me sleep. 'Of course, darling!' He did shut up, but increased the volume of the radio. How very thoughtful!
Last but not least - as he kept driving like a lunatic - I arrived at the airport at 5:55. Great stuff. I would certainly preferred to stay in bed a bit longer...
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