Theres a rule I tend to follow when waiting at taxi stops. It is a very simple rule. Everybodys time is valuable, the rule says. First to wait at the taxi stop, first to get into a taxi. Im not the only one to follow this rule. When I got to the taxi stop in front of the Bandar Utama McDonalds drive-through today, there were a number of secondary-school students who seemed to follow my rule. They were split into to two separate groups, and one group waited for the other to depart before attempting to stop a taxi for themselves. Soon group two was gone, and it was my turn to catch a cab. I stood on the edge of the kerb, in the shade. After a minute, a college-aged boy appeared. He looked as if hed come from sports practice; he was dressed in branded sportswear. He had sports bags and glasses. He saw me, and decided to stand to my right -- in front of me. I didnt say anything. I stepped out onto the road, into the sun. He saw me. Clearly the boy knew I was there, and he seemed to acknowledge me at first; he retreated back into the taxi stand for a few moments. But when he saw a taxi driving down the road, he decided that my time was not as valuable as his own, and rushed out into the street to wave the taxi down. I had been waving also. The taxi stopped. The boy made for the door. And usually I am accommodating -- Maybe this boy has to get home to his sick mother and take her to hospital? But the sun was sweltering, and he really didnt seem to be anxious enough to be in an emergency. He didnt follow my rule. He followed a rule of his own, which seemed to be: I am entitled to whatever I want, now. So I leaned over him and said: Im taking this this, sorry. And I got into the car. Ive had bad experiences with taxis and taxi-drivers. But I think Ive had an equal number of bad experiences -- if not more -- involving the people who take taxis.
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 07:17:24 +0000
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