So the real reason why my Spanish bus driver kept breaking the rules to be stopped by traffic police was that he was a heavy smoker.
“These stupid Anglos make big bucks peddling their cigarettes to the whole world,” he would grumble. “And then they come here and complain that one smokes on the bus!”
Wherever a police car would flag him down, Jesus would jump out of the bus, grab his packet of smokes, and suck avidly on a cigarette. He would talk to the officer very slowly to have time to smoke the entire cigarette down.
Nicotine addiction: the advanced stage.
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Very advanced.
Everybody in Spain smoked in those years. Every dialogue would start with, “Go ahead, smoke. What do you mean, you don’t want to? Are you sick? Or – and a horrible suspicion would visit the interlocutor – are you an American??” 🙂
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Thanks for reminding me as to why I’m glad I quit smoking. Much fewer disruptions to my routine in order to get a nicotine fix. 🙂
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Seems like his smoke breaks could make his vice pretty expensive. Or does he not care since his employer covers his traffic tickets?
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