Taxi
Experiences
---By Stiev Huang Translated
by Sho Huang
1 - Ke Kuan-Mang,
37, taxi driver
I once took a passenger who didn't have
any cash with him. Worse, he somehow damaged his ATM
card so he couldn't withdraw any money. He wanted to
go from Taoyuan train station to Taipei. However, no
taxi drivers were willing to take him. So, he started
walking from Taoyuan County Stadium. Luckily, I happened
to be on my way back to Taipei so I gave him a ride.
2 - Pang Jin-Mu,
51, taxi driver
I once picked up a drunken passenger
who vomited all over the place. However, he paid me
extra to cover the cleaning.
3 - Lin Lu-Wen,
46, taxi driver
One time, I gave a mother and her child
a ride. The child was screaming and crying his head
off and driving us nuts. The mother asked me to play
"bad cop", since the child is afraid of strangers,
by threatening him that I would sell him. It proved
effective. He was quiet within seconds.
4 - Chen Feng-Rong,
62, taxi driver
Once I paid a nun to ride with me. The
thing was that she paid me with two 100-dollar bills,
which I mistook as two 500-dollar bills, as we were
in a hurry. So I gave her NT$300 change. Another time,
I picked up a mentally disabled person, who told me
to take him to “the market”. There are hundreds
of markets; I really didn't know which he had in mind.
So I said I would take him to the police station, which
really threw him off. However, I took him to the nearest
market as he wished.
5 - Frans, 44,
freelance photographer
Once I took a taxi and forgot my wallet.
I did have a new CD of Jay Chou with me so I offered
that to the driver. He refused and dropped me off without
payment. Amazingly, the very next day I was in the same
area and got the SAME taxi. The taxi driver recognized
me and this time I was happy to pay for the fee for
that day and the previous day.
6 - Sushi, 22,
stylist
Once I flagged down a taxi at Ximending
around 1 a.m. It usually takes me 15 minutes to get
home from there. However, the driver took Civic Boulevard
instead, sped up to 110 km/hour and overtook every car
on our way. It only took eight minutes. I felt like
I was in the movie, "Taxi." It was pretty
scary. |