The Rio de Janeiro Taxi Driver, always in a hurry

Why am I always surprised by taxis? You'd think I'd have learned by now.

I got a night out last night and hightailed it over to my friend's place.  We chatted, had a drink, and listened to music. An all around good night.

I called a cab around 1030pm and headed home.  Rio de Janeiro has a new law that all taxis have to have working seat belts in the back. Funny how there has to be an actual law to make this happen. Before this, you'd find the shoulder strap and nothing to lock it into. The base of the seat belt was always under the seat.

I blame my Mom for my seat belt obsession.  She wouldn't even pull out of the driveway until all of us had confirmed our belted in status. 

The seat belt wasn't working on the side I got in.  I hesitated a second. Not going to make a big deal out of it and switch seats. Oh hell, who am I kidding and who am I trying to impress. I slid over, behind the driver, and buckled up. 

Maybe the driver took that as a challenge. Maybe he was just in a hurry.  Goodness knows, but we were off!  I think it took me 10 minutes max to get from the end of Copacabana all the way to my place in Laranjeiras.  He wasn't letting the rain or other drivers stop him from beating his pre-determined time, or so it seemed. 

I stayed calm during the race.  At least I was buckled in!  My next goal is to have the balls to tell the driver to slow the fuck down.  Pardon my language. 

My Mother In Law did it once.  We got in the car with my oldest, who was only 1 at the time, and the driver took off. My MIL went off on him.  "What the hell?!  There's a child in the car!  Don't you think you should drive like there's in a child in the car." She followed it up with a "Turn down the air too. You're going to give him pneumonia."

One of these days I'll develop the ability to correctly tell off a taxi driver without daring him to kill us both.  I can do Moms and Nannies at the park so it mustn't be too far off.