Istanbul: The Night I Stopped the Cab and Found the City

I went to Istanbul for work.Meetings. Business dinners. Handshakes and strategy talks and the kind of scheduling that makes you forget what day it is. I was there to do a job, check the boxes, fly home. That was the plan.But Istanbul doesn't care about your plan.The funny thing about doing business in Istanbul is that nobody actually does business right away.We'd end up in the Grand Bazaar, this ancient, chaotic, sensory-overload maze where vendors are hustling spices and textiles and copper lamps, and every corner smells like something you want to eat. I'm there ready to talk strategy, timelines, deliverables. You know, work.But they sit you down first.And before you can even open your mouth about the deal, they're bringing you Turkish tea. In those tiny tulip-shaped glasses that burn your fingers if you're not careful. Not because they're trying to butter you up. Not because it's a sales tactic. Because that's just how it's done. You're a human first. The business comes second.There's no rush. No urgency. Just this unspoken understanding that if you're going to do something together, you should probably actually see each other first.It's such a simple thing. But when you've spent your whole life...