Unbelievable de Almeida

It was 2005, cell phones were already smaller, with a hinge, they opened and became larger (“flip”). I went to a meeting at PETROBRAS, in the offices on General Canabarro street (near CEFET and Maracanã). I had lunch around there with colleagues.

I left there, in a hurry, for a meeting scheduled at my office, on Rua Evaristo da Veiga, near the Municipal Theater of Rio. The subject would be to discuss the company’s balance sheet with an accountant-consultant, paid by time. I took a taxi. I arrived at the office and, in half an hour, I began the meeting asking that we not be interrupted.

In less than half an hour, the receptionist entered the room, apologizing, saying that my dear friend and compadre, João Franciso Soares, who lived (and lives) in São Paulo, wanted to speak with me urgently. I asked her to explain that I could not take the call, and that I would return it as soon as possible.

In less than 15 minutes, João appears in the room, in person. Very much in his style, he came in, paying no attention to the presence of the accountant and the receptionist’s protests.

At the time João worked at CCCC (Construções e Comércio Camargo Corrêa), and explained that he had come to Rio to solve a problem for CCCC, that the problem had been solved in the morning and, since he had the afternoon free until boarding the plane at night, he had decided to visit me.

With the patience that João’s friends are obliged to have with him (and he with me!), I explained that I needed about 30 more minutes to finish the meeting with the accountant (who, being paid by time, was very calm). Then João said:

_ OK, I will wait in reception, but lend me your mobile phone because mine ran out of battery.

It was then that I realized I was without the mobile phone and asked them to call Petrobras, because I must have forgotten it there, or in the restaurant, or... in the taxi... what bad luck.

João began to laugh, sat down, and told:

_ After having lunch with the CCCC people, near the Rio office, at Praia do Flamengo, I took a taxi and came to pay you a surprise visit. Already in the taxi, I decided to call you; if you were not there, I would go to the airport. When I called, a phone lost on the back seat of the taxi (hard to see, camouflaged in the black upholstery), began to ring and I handed it to the taxi driver. Someone forgot this here. The taxi driver answered and we realized that we were talking to each other.... And the taxi driver commented:

_ An hour ago, I dropped off a passenger near where you are going, after that, I already made two short rides, ... I do not believe it...

And before our incredulous silence, he took my phone out of his pocket and placed it on the table.

Apart from the receptionist, the secretary, the accountant, that taxi driver and João, no one else will believe it. I tell it here only for the record.

Miguel Fernández y Fernández, engineer, chronicler and columnist, member of the National Academy of Engineering and of the Institute of Engineering # written on Oct 12, 2025 R2026 Jan Rd, 2,697 characters