We used to complain about the wait. The driver wouldn’t stop talking to you. The radio was too loud, the windows wouldn’t close all the way. Arguments about whether this counts as ﺳﻴﺮﭬﯿﺲ أﻭ ﺳﻴﺮﭬﯿﺴﻴﻦ (one fare or two). You split the fare with four strangers and arrive somewhere close enough.

Now you're somewhere far, in a clean car, in silence, going exactly where you asked to go. And you would give anything to be squeezed into the back of that Mercedes again.