Uncivil Servant

Sitting in the queue for the bridge this morning, a white car came trundling up the hard shoulder and pushed in in front of me. To show my total integration into local driving habits, I hooted at it.

The driver got out and walked back to me, flashing a wallet full of official-looking documents. "You can't hoot. Can't you see that this car belongs to the State?" I was gobsmacked, but bit my tongue, thinking, "Yes, because it's an unmarked white car DRIVEN BY A COMPLETE MORON!" If I had time, I would have tried to get details of his identification and workplace, so that I could complain to his boss but, quite frankly, what's the point?

I've complained before about this phenomenon. Until this sort of attitude is dealt with, Portugal will have problems convincing visitors that it is not a third world country. Fortunately the welcoming nature of the other 90% of the population goes a long way towards that goal.