Megan McArdle notes, in reference to a post about Argentina:

TNR describes the social chaos in Argentina. It all boils down to this one delicious quote (from a taxi driver, of course; P.J. O’Rourke says that all third world taxi drivers are under contract to UPI to provide memorable quotes)…

It’s not just a third-world deal–I get good info from them even in the first world (i.e., between my house and LAX). This reminds me that about a week before 911, I flew down to San Juan from LA, and since I was going to be gone for longer than I wanted to pay parking, and the flight was too early in the morning for the bus, I took a cab. When I got in, I heard music from his cassette that sounded vaguely Persian. I asked the driver, and he said that it was.

“Are you Iranian?”

“No, I’m from Afghanistan, but the music is very similar.”

Oh.

“So, how long have you been in America?”

“About twelve years. We left in 1979 when the Russians invaded, and went to Germany. Then I came here.”

“Do you think that the Taliban will remain in power?”

He was surprised at this question. I suspect that most of his fares couldn’t find Afghanistan on a map of Afghanistan.

“No, sir. The people are very unhappy. They may last a month, they may last a year, but they will not be there long.”

“But you like Persian music. I assume that you must be Pashtun. The Taliban are Pashtun. What’s the problem?”

Now he’s really weirded out.

“They are Pashtun, but they do not have the support of the Afghan people, in the west or the north. They rule by force and cruelty alone. They are not acting in the interest of Afghanistan.”

About this time, we were pulling up to the terminal. In retrospect, it might have been instructive to continue the conversation, but who knew…?

A friend of mine has a theory about third-world unrest. He claims that you can tell what country will be the next trouble spot, by counting ethnic restaurant openings (by expatriots), particularly in DC, as a leading indicator.

The last time I flew, when I went to St. Louis, the driver was from Bangladesh. But that’s another story…