I
believe in the saying things happen for a reason. Lately I have been
stressing over car issues. As soon as I decided that I was going to get a new
car in July, my car became so rebellious that problems started popping up. Mainly
heating up. One day was so bad that by the grace of God my car did not catch on
fire. Nonetheless, a few parts did melt and the temperature thingy was not
working otherwise, I could have stopped.
OK,
so I took it to a mechanic who is a friend of the family however, when I told
him that I was going to buy a new car in July, he apparently just camouflaged the
problem. After that the car started heating up again and I was lucky to find a
new garage. OK, it might be pricey and take a little bit longer to repair it,
but at least they're finding out that a lot of issues are wrong with my car.
Not
being able to drive around, I have been taking taxis and Ubers. I am reluctant
in taking Ubers because of all the horror stories you hear. But that's why I
say I walk by faith and not sight. There are drivers and there are
drivers (I don't know if this is a Portuguese expression) but I have been
talking to a lot of interesting drivers.
I'm
the kind of person that by making one comment or asking just one question
people open up and tell me their whole life story. But then again, I can also
just stare out the window and clam up.
One
interesting taxi driver that I did talk to drove me to a book fair. We started
talking about books and the pleasure of reading and he told me how well his
kids were doing in the university which he never had the opportunity, neither
him nor his wife to study beyond high school. Nonetheless, he spoke Spanish. He
also mentioned that he was taking English. I didn't want I didn't want to get
into that conversation so I didn't mention that I was an English teacher. But
what he told me about his children really made him proud because I guess that
you know his tough life of driving in the city really paid off. His children one
was taking education and the other one was studying medicine both at federal universities,
therefore, he did not have to support them. What a proud dad. His eyes shone as
he talked about his children.
Another
driver that I met told me about the place that he lived which was in an apartment
above some stores. He stated that the bottom store was actually a jewelry store
where the whole family worked during the week. That same week, the parents had
gone elsewhere. The father had gone to a fair and the mother was at home
working busily. The young adults were taking care of the store. As every week,
the son was using this chemical product to clean the jewels or (I didn't
understand it too much) some kind of chemical product to clean out the store. However,
the son put too much of this product and he inhaled it. Immediately, he called
his mother saying that he was having a hard time breathing and that his insides
felt like they were burning. Instead of the mother going down to help him, she
told him to drink water. To make a long
story short, sadly the young man ended up passing away. We started talking
about what made the mother not go and rescue her son or not attend to his cry
for help. Anyway, he said that when the father found out that his son had
passed, he tried to take his own life by throwing himself under passing cars in
front of the store.
I
listened to these stories but one was sadder than the other. To change the
topic, I asked him what he did when he was at home and he said he liked
listening to music but calm music and he preferred not to watch TV that much
which made me wonder because I told him my greatest passion was reading and
when I was home to relax, I liked to read. Soon enough, we were in my
neighborhood. Perhaps that's what started the conversation. I do live in a dangerous neighborhood but then
again where is it safe to live in Sao Paulo nowadays.
To
go to school in the morning, because it's very early, I asked my borrowed son
- that's how I call him the son from my heart, to drive me to School
because it's really early and sometimes it's hard to get a cab which would cost
a fortune and or an Uber. So, he said it'd a pleasure to drive me to School, picked
me up around 6:00 and he dropped me off around 6:30; quarter to seven depending
on the traffic.
It's
been quite nice because we've been talking about so many things and I know he's
not a talker in the morning and I am, so I try not to say too much because I
know how aggravating that could be for people who are not morning people. Perhaps
the reason why these days that I'm without a car is just for me and my borrowed
son to have some more quality time together. After all, life is busy. It is
not always easy to schedule a get together.
Now,
that so much is being done to my car, I think I'm going to hang on to it for a
little bit longer. Perhaps now that I have made this decision, my car will be
less rebellious, more secure and it´ll stop breaking down. My car is hot-headed
just like me. It is what it is. As they say in French: C’est la vie!
Written:
June 14,2023
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