Only in Panama!

My good friend helps gringos buy used cars.

This is a tricky process in Panama. First, because cars are poorly maintained so checking them out is tough. Second, the paper work could choke an elephant, so help is needed.

He locates many of the cars in Panama City, 225 miles and 6 to 7 hours away. He jumps on a commuter airplane to PC, then hires a taxi for the day, races around PC looking at cars and, if he finds one, gets to the bank and pays for it.

Now the car has to be driven back to Boquete.

The problem: he has cataracts in both eyes and trouble seeing. There was a period when he was getting treated and operated on when his sight was very poor.

No problem for the business, he hired a driver.

Now the fun starts.

He had a local Panamanian, highly recommended by another friend, get on a bus to PC and drive them to Boquete.

After the Panamanian started driving, they got stopped at a check point, which is predictable. You always get stopped at check points a couple of time from PC to Boquete!

And, he didn't have a drivers license. So my friend had to bribe the police to get moving again.

Now, this in itself, is hilarious. Who would accept a job driving without a drivers license? A Panamanian. They don't think like us. This makes good sense to them.

No problema!

Now, several months later, we find out that the Panamanian also has cataracts and is essentially blind! Now, as he was then!

Only in Panama would a person accept a job to drive without a license and legally blind.

I howled at this story. I am still laughing.

My buddy is livid about the whole thing, as he should be...someone could have gotten serious hurt or worse.