Ning
I had a cabby who told me that my red top was 'sexy' and 'revealing'
Ning
Magic Babe -
I'm sure everyone has taxi tales to tell - from irritating taxi
drivers who can't stop yakking about the "gah-men" to reckless driving
near-accidents or weird-smelling taxis.
Just before my business trip
to Manila, I booked a cab from my bachelorette's pad to go for an event.
Coincidentally, my next-door neighbour, Anna, was leaving her apartment
at the same time with her fiancé to register their marriage at ROM.
Chatting,
we headed down the lift together and a taxi pulled up in front of the
apartment block. I recognized the license plate as the cab that had
responded to my booking call. But, as my European friends were in such
an excited rush, I let them take my taxi since I was in no hurry.
Less
than a minute later, the taxi that had responded to Anna's call pulled
up and I got in. When I looked up, I noticed a pair of glassy eyes
leering at me in the rear view mirror. I gave my destination and avoided
eye contact. Within a minute, the middle-aged Chinese taxi driver said:
"Miss, your red top looks like a dodou... Very sexy. Your design in the
front got holes... Very revealing."
Wtf?!
I ignored the
cabbie, thinking how incredulously bold and unprofessional he was. The
halter top I had on wasn't revealing at all and some things need not be
said aloud. Throughout the journey, I noticed him leering through the
rear view mirror as he complimented my make-up ("what rosy cheeks you
have", "your eyelashes are so pretty", "your smile very sweet").
OMG.
When
we got to my destination, I quickly paid and opened the door. For the
first time, the driver turned to face me directly and said, in a creepy,
sleazy voice, "Have a nice day, Miss Anna." I managed a thank-you and
hightailed out of the taxi. Thankfully he didn't recognize me and
mistook me for my neighbour since I took her cab. Whew! At least he
didn't know my name or have my number.
Later in the evening, I
texted Anna just to warn her that I had a feeling the pervert may try to
contact her thinking we're the same person. Indeed, my amused friend
responded that she did get a weird message that said:
Seriously?
Is it just me, or is that just completely unprofessional and an
absolute abuse of power? I mean, I totally understand why Comfort
provides the client's mobile number and I've called for taxis many
times; this was really the first bad experience I've had!
Later that night, Anna forwarded me another message from the disgusting driver:
*roll eyes in disgust* I wouldn't be surprised if this creep has done this before.
Grace
Have you met the ‘Aunt Agony' Cabby?
Grace -
Taxi drivers are the best people to dish out relationship advice when you are going through a breakup!
Aside
from the fact that they have decades of life experience behind them and
the volume of customers they ferry and speak with everyday, you will
likely only meet the same taxi driver once in your life, even on this
small island we call home.
So the same guy won't ask you "So, have you moved on to a new relationship?"
I
realized this many moons ago when tearful after a breakup, I decided to
take a cab home and not embarrass myself by taking a train or bus.
Little did I know that I was meant to meet that Aunt Agony Cabby.
He
actually shared that while women like to cry, kick up a fuss, threaten
suicide or something nasty, men are usually unfazed. What would really
impress a guy who wants to break up with you is a cool handshake and
your thanking him for the good times in the relationship, and then you
cry somewhere else where he can't see you.
That will prompt the
guy to ask himself if he is really losing a gem of a woman - someone so
hard to find, and so unlike other women. ;)
And then there are some taxi tales related by friends...
The
most memorable one was about someone's taxi driver uncle who got
propositioned by the customer he was ferrying (she's a prostitute) - I
suppose she wanted a free taxi ride PLUS cash for her services. So smart
and so scary! First time I heard that, I couldn't believe that hookers
were soliciting taxi drivers. Then I realized they are pretty savvy
business people who ask for business everywhere they go. Hmm...
Ju-Len
"Singapore got a lot of idiots"
Ju-Len -
YOU KNOW HOW you watch someone do something professionally, like
drive a Formula One car or kick a football around or make love to Jenna
Jameson on film, and you think, "Man, I could do better than that!"?
Well
that's how I feel about taxi drivers! I don't take many taxi rides, and
here's why: they can't drive, they won't stop talking, or both.
Most
of them seem to have left their seeing eye dogs at home before they
going on shift, which must be why they swerve all over the place instead
of choosing one lane and sticking to it. They would probably do better
by winding down a window and tapping a cane along the road.
If
they're not blind, they're deaf or uncomprehending. I had one cab driver
who couldn't (or wouldn't) understand simple instructions like "U-turn
here, please" or "turn right here", and so ended up taking me pretty
much a postal code away where I wanted to go, and making me late for an
appointment in the process.
Honestly, why do we let people drive taxis if the mere concept of a u-turn is enough to befuddle them?
Then
there was the cab I recently took in which the driver for some reason
saw me as the perfect sounding board to tell me what "idiots" the people
in Singapore were.
Some ang mohs were apparently idiots for
trying to take their dogs into cabs with them, or queuing at the wrong
place for a taxi.
Some China girls apparently dressed up in the
finest gowns but revealed themselves to be idiots when they opened their
mouths and only "rubbish" spewed out.
Goodness knows what kind of
idiot he would have classed me as: "grinning moron who agrees blindly
with everything I say", probably.
At least local cabbies have been fundamentally honest in my experience.
I
had one in Ho Chi Minh City who drove me a few laps around the very
building I was looking for, just to pad the bill. Bad news for her,
since I just gave her the amount I felt was fair, and invited her to
call the police if she had a different view about it.
Then there
was the KL cab driver who was paid a fixed 58 Ringgit to drive me from
KLIA into Petaling Jaya. "Eh, boss," he piped up from the front. "Next
time you call me direct. No need to book from company."
"Ok," I answered. "How much from PJ to airport?"
He thought for a while.
"70 Ringgit, can?"
I pointed out that it would cost me only 58 to book the airport transfer properly.
He thought for a while more. "Then 58, can?"
Dishonesty and stupidity, wrapped up in one foggy mess of a human. Even I can take a kickback better than that.
