Listening Sorts

Today I was in an awful mood after a friend unceremoniously ditched me after making me wait for 1 1/2 hour. I was so mad that a piece of paper would have set ablaze if it was placed in front of my face. I stomped out and caught an autorickshaw. Since it had poured just an hour ago, there was a bottleneck. I noticed that the meter was running faster than usual. I pointed this out to the driver, and finding a valid reason to scream at someone I continued accusing him of cheating, blah blah.
He simply pulled over, and raised his palm for silence and fiddled with the auto mechanism to rectify the problem. After demonstrating that the glitch had been rectified, the journey commenced again.
The driver started with small talk about B'lore being infested with people from everywhere. His rant began on similar note as my conversation two weeks ago. I showed little enthusiasm, since the mood was down, and the topic boring. So he brought up discussion of education, and how it was directly proportional to the price one can command in the market. I feebly agreed until he gave me the instance of a doctor who can demand Rs 5000 to inject you with medicine which costs no more than Rs 50. I argued that 'knowledge is power', but he seemed more comfortable with the Chinese way of ruling where rich or poor alike, man earns basis the sweat and labour he exudes, without use of his intellectual.
After I revealed to him that I was a Muslim, he being a righteous Muslim man, decided that I needed to be advised on the worldly ways. He told me that a woman should never look eye-to-eye when talking to another person, especially a man. The exception would be her parents or siblings. If he knew English, I would have screamed 'MCP!' The words resounded and died in the empty hollow of my head. I said nothing.
He told me that he was married for 4 years with 2 kids. And his wife and he shared mutual love and trust which helped them live together harmoniously. I was impressed by this claim, until he decided to elaborate further and tell me, "A man and a man are different. My wife cannot walk in front and lead. She must always walk behind me."
Hello! Whatever happened to gender equality? Since she is your partner, shouldn't she walk with you, if not in front of you? By now we had surpassed the bottlenecked traffic, and were zooming close to home. The point was not argued any further, and I hastily proceeded towards my apartment.
Like this was not enough, I was caught by my landlady who was concerned on my late arrival and early departure everyday. I explained to her about my new work place being 20 kms away. She empathised, and observed that the travel was too much of a hassle. I slipped in the idea that I may have to move out and go closer. As soon as she learnt of the area where my office was located, she cried foul. And began to describe graphically, much like Hindi-movie style on the scheming minds of thieves who would climb and hide in my bathroom!! I maintained a straight face as she elaborated on how I could get abducted while hailing an auto and dramatised the proceedings. It soon dawned upon me that she did not want to lose a tenant, and was trying to convince me to stay here (in a safe area), and buy a vehicle for travel, instead of conveniently shifting to a place close to office. I thanked her profusely for enlightening me with such knowledge, thus preventing me from encountering such goons, and said g'nite. She even promised to convince my mother about the terrible things which could happen to a poor lil girl living alone. Once out of ear shot, I laughed my way up home.
I really enjoy these characters I encounter everyday. It seems that I have a 'tell me all, I am all ears to your advise' kinda look. Is it just me?