Combi tales

Had an interesting time in a colectivo today...

I was heading to the east side of town to Cinepolis to see a movie this afternoon, so I took a combi bus to get there. I got in, said "Buenas tardes" (Good afternoon) and sat down on the bench behind the driver. When I handed him my money, he didn't let go of my hand! Now, keep in mind NO hand contact is necessary to take change from someone or to hand them change. So this guy was quite overstepping professional boundaries in taking my hand, especially in requiring me to pull to get my hand back! As if that wasn't bad enough, I had sat on the bench behind the front seats, which makes me the unofficial money passer person for the rest of the new passengers. Only two new people boarded, but he proceeded to grab my hand again! Creep. Finally we were nearing my final destination. To my dismay, by this time, the last passengers got off. I sort of thought to myself, this could be bad. But if he thinks I'm a tourist, I'm not, I have a phone, I can call for help... he stops the combi and turns around. Super. But he says, "I have to go to the bathroom. Can you get out here?" And hands me back my 4 pesos fare. I'm baffled, as this has never happened, and I get out of the combi with my money. I see that I'm not even AT a stop, so I start walking to the next stop. As I'm walking, I see this combi driver who had to go to the bathroom, supposedly, do a U-turn and pick up passengers on the other side of the road, and head off down the street. Bathroom? Riiiight. If you have to be a rude, creepy liar, at least leave me at a combi stop!

Oh, and when I got on the next combi, I realized I could have walked the rest of the way in about 10 minutes. All in all, a lovely experience.

[Note: You may be wondering what the photo has to do with the story. These little ornaments are often found hanging from the windshield or rearview of colectivos.]