What's Wrong with Bulgarian Taxi Drivers

Four weeks after my arrival in Sofia, I can now safely say that I have enough experience with taxi drivers here to justify my complaints about them. Add to that the stories friends have told me, and here you have it: a list of top pet peeves about bulgarian taxi drivers (in no particular order):

1. They talk too much. I can understand that spending hours on end in a car on the crazy streets of Sofia and in traffic jams is not very conducive to your staying sane, but that doesn't mean that you have to talk my head off about politics, who you hate, why life sucks, etc. Just drive quietly and get me to where I want to go.
2. They drive like maniacs. This I admit is a "quality" common to all taxi drivers, irrespective of the country. Still, I thought I should mention it.
3. They really (I mean REALLY) like to take part in their passengers' conversations. It amazes me how taxi drivers here just feel free to butt into your conversation and express an opinion without being asked... What is worse is that they then take over the whole conversation.
4. Some of them cheat you. I have to admit, this happens a lot less frequently now than it did in the past, but it still does happen occasionally. They rig the meter so it runs up a larger bill than the kms you have actually travelled.
5. They smoke a lot. There is no concept of ensuring the passenger's comfort, so often you are subjected to a car full of smoke and loud "chalga" music blasting from the radio. In the end, it's not so much the smoke or the music that bothers me; it's the fact that they won't even ask if you mind or not. That's all.
6. They refuse to drive you to where you want to go. More so than in any other place I have lived, taxi drivers here are really selective about where they drive you. If you are going a short distance or in a direction they don't really feel like driving, they simply refuse to take you. Or they make you feel like they are doing you a huge favor, when agreeing to drive you after first complaining about it for 5 minutes.

And to wrap this up, since I don't want to be too negative, I'll mention a really good experience I had yesterday with a woman taxi driver. She immediately agreed to take me to where I wanted to go, asked if the music was too loud and if she should close the window, we then made some small talk, after which she left me alone and in quiet to enjoy the classical music playing on the radio, while driving me home. That's how it should be. Instead of stressing you out, taking a cab should make things easier and less stressful.