It was the end of a long night, one of many in Medellin, Colombia. I stepped out of the cab, brushed myself off, and SLAMMED the door shut. Pretty typical procedure I thought. But as I started to leave the cab driver leaned over the front seat and yelled at me through the half-open window.
I stopped for a second, looked at him quizzically, and in my best Spanish said, “What’s up?”
“Why would you slam like that?”
“Um, well, first of all she came on to me…”
“No!’
“…and I don’t see why you’d care, I mean…”
“Why did you shut the door so hard?”
“Is this some sort of obscure psychological question? I love these.”
“Why would you slam a door like that?”
“Wow. No. This is interesting. So you’re saying I slammed the door on purpose because I have unresolved issues with my parents?”
“No!”
“No, no. Of course not. I love my parents.”
Screeching tires, he’s gone.
Of course this conversation is 95% fabricated…but, it does bring up something noteworthy.
If you want the respect of Colombians, and especially cab drivers, then don’t slam car doors. Close them gently.
I guess they don’t make cars the same down in Colombia because I’ve been slamming doors in the states since I was 2 without much problem. No door has ever fallen off.
Regardless, if you close the door ‘respectfully’ when you first hop in the cab in Colombia, it could save you some money in the long run. The cab driver will be less likely to take an odd, costly route.
But, I will say this – Colombian cab drivers are on average an awesome, awesome sub-set of people. I’ve taken a good amount of cabs and only once felt like a cab driver was trying to pull something funky.
Re-Cap
- Don’t slam any car doors in Colombia
- I can’t speak for regular doors.
