Tuesday, 13 December 2011 12:04
Taxi driver demonstrating against gas taxes. Photo courtesy of grupopublimetro.cl
There’s an interesting Chilean personality in the city, not liked by everyone, but always a salvation, with a wide knowledge (supposedly) from the streets of the city and an opinion about politics: the taxi driver.
Lately, I came to the conclusion, that “nowadays taxi drivers are not like they were in the past”, maybe because they don’t talk, they don’t know the streets, or maybe because they don’t have this wit of taxi drivers anymore, which I like so much (I think that here “wit” is related to shrewdness, craftiness and the good sense of humor). However, I always get drivers who seem to change the image, talking about popular culture or telling me about their families, while making flattering comments and gallantly flirting with me, though directly driving me to the exact corner I want to go to.
I know that many are afraid of the rates that the taximeter shows (the little machine which is used to measure the distance and time according to a base rate), especially foreigners, who have been cheated on many times and charged twice the corresponding rate. Some drivers say the taximeter has been fixed, while others don’t turn it on and tell you “At this time the minimum rate is of $5.000 CLP”, although you only need to go 10 blocks and at a time when only a few dogs are strolling around. It happened to me that I have been charged more, especially once when I came from the airport, but I only put an angry face on and thought of the "karma". In my opinion, that’s how the universe works alter all. Why getting mad? It’s not worth it.
Another time I got a driver who gave my candies. He had the newspaper of the day and A LOT of candies stored in the little space between his seat and the co-pilot one’s. He told me that he likes to make the trip more pleasant, that’s why he would give candies to his passengers and he had a newspaper, so the people who don’t have a subject to talk about or simply don’t want to talk, can read the paper. Fantastic! It was obvious that he likes his work a lot, a good example for all of us to go through life more satisfied.
Note: It you are not happy with the Karma method, always take a small bill with you,
5 lucas for example and tell the driver with a face of deepest sorrow: “I didn’t know it would be that expensive, I don’t have more”.
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