#TaxiChronicles I met this taxi driver earlier today. Been depending on taxis these days because the mechanics are still playing with my car. So we negotiate and agree on GHS30 from Botwe to Adabraka (I wanted to give him 15). I realized he was using a different route instead of the one I use daily. I was worried. I had a feeling Id be late if we went his way. I decided to intervene. Me: Driver, where you dey pay de3 I go chop late. Driver: This is the best way sah. Me Im a professional driver. You cant teach me my job. Me: Really? Im paying you 30 cedis to get me to work on time o. Driver: Boss. You are talking too much. You are just paying 30 cedis and you want to tell me what to do. Me: Sorry o boss, but I have to get to work by 5:45. You can even go through Aburi and go round the mountains, all I need is to get to work by 5:45. Driver laughs and goes like masa masa, you are my first passenger. Make I no vex you.) I was pleasantly shocked by his reaction. My brain started working. I needed to teach him a lesson. Me: So boss, I hope youd agree with me that Im paying you 30 cedis to get me to work by 5:45am. Would you agree that therell be a breach of contract if I get to work at 5:45? Driver: (He brakes and gives me a killer look) Massa, Im the driver. I know my job. Just shut up and let me do my job. Me: I want to shut up but you must agree to compensate me if you dont get me to work at 5:45. Ill take 1 cedi for each minute that you waste. Driver: You book-long people think you know everything eh. Now you want to teach me driving and show me where to pass too? What kind of attitude is this? If I get you there before 5:45am, will pay me 1 cedi per minute for getting you there earlier. Me: Make that 2 cedis. Im ready to pay that per minute if you get me to work earlier. We shake hands and the driver confidently steps on the accelerator. We get to American house and instead of using the road to the spintex underpass, he chose to go through the Lagos Avenue road. I checked the time and it was around 5:22. We drive on and get to the traffic light at Gulf House area. It was red and that meant a minutes delay. Time, 5:30am. The road was traffic-free so he steps on it. When we got to Shangrila there were a lot of troskis doin their own thing. There was approximately a 3 minute delay. I turn to him and ask again. Boss, are you sure we can make it? I asked. Driver: Massa why? Let me concentrate on my driving. Just get your extra 2 cedis per minute ready. Well, we managed to get to Adabraka around 5:46. Unfortunately, the intersection at the Cathedral area had some traffic. That delayed us a bit too. But he still looked confident and kept his cool. When we got to No. 11 Tetteh Loop, it was 5:54am by my watch. That meant were were 9 minutes late. So I handed him a cool 21 cedis. He counted the money and went like kw333, what is this? I calmly remind him of our earlier agreement..that Id cost him 1 cedi per minute if he got me to work late. He starts screaming! And says I should rather pay him cos according to his time we got to the destination 5:44am. Per his analysis, I was to pay him 32 cedis. I started laughing and got off the taxi. He did same and came after me. He would not let me go because he felt his time was right. He burned with rage, he wouldnt let me cheat him. A policeman showed up and asked what was happening. I explained everything and made him listen to a recording of our earlier conversation. He checked his time and it tallied with mine. He asked a passerby for her time and it was same us ours. He freed me from the grips of the driver. The driver was still not sorted. He wanted his cash. Then a call came through on his phone. Driver: Hello, boss. Im coming. I make late small.......its 6am already? Forgive me I dey come. He ended the call and checked the time on his phone. He realized that the time displayed on his dashboard was 10 minutes late. Sosket! I had him. He had already given me the 21 cedis I paid him earlier and was asking for it back. I gave him a cool 15 cedis and told him he had delayed me till 6am and that my time was money. The look on his face reminded me of Kalybos popular refrain akoa yi madi nkwaseas3m. I thanked the policeman and moved on. Cant wait for my car to be return. Taxi drivers dey tire me. But charlie, 15 cedis from Botwe to Adabraka wasnt a bad bargain. #CitiAt10. God is good!
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 12:18:07 +0000
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