Saturday, June 20, 2009
April 1, 2009. Wednesday: How much is your honesty worth?
A white man in business attire carrying a briefcase boarded my taxi from the banking district around the end of the evening peak hours. He sat in the front passenger seat besides me and told me to go to Cluny road. As we started moving, he asked if I could accept payment by Nets. I said sorry I can’t because my taxi is not equipped for that. A stock answer that I use almost every day.
“I have only $10 cash,” he said. “But no worry. I’ll tell my wife to come out with the rest of the fare when we get there.”
“That will be great,” I replied.
He was an Englishman in his mid or late thirties, judging from his accent and the gentlemanly demeanor. He wore a suit that could easily cost a month of my earnings. He first adjusted the position of the seat to his satisfaction, and then took out a Blackberry and punched some keys. But he quickly put away the phone without waiting for the dial tone to appear. “The battery is dead,” he said to me. “Perhaps I can borrow your phone later to call my wife?”
“Yes, of course.”
But he never did. Some twenty minutes later, we reached his residence. The meter fare was $10.60.
“Thank God,” he sounded relieved, as if he had just emerged from a maze that had him trapped for a long time. “Lucky I have some coins with me”.
He handed me with a $10 note and some coins. I took the money and said, “The total is $13.60, with $3 CBD surcharge, Sir.”
“It says 10.60 right there.” He laid a finger on the meter. His tone had changed to an unpleasant one.
“Well,” I felt I was being pushed into a battle. “The surcharge doesn’t appear on my meter, but it is applicable from 5 to midnight for trips from CBD, as you probably know, Sir.”
“I take taxi every day,” he continued to press on. “All other taxis display whatever surcharges on the meter along with the fares and I pay for what’s on the meter. No more and no less.”
I composed my thoughts for a second or two and then turned to face him.
“Look,” I held his eyes with mine. “I know you know exactly how much this taxi ride will cost you. That’s why you said in the beginning that your $10 isn’t nearly enough to cover it. And I don’t believe what you said about other taxis. All the taxis of my company have the same type of meter as mine. There are thousands of them on the roads. So don’t tell me you never take one of these before. You want to waste your time with me or go back home. It’s been a long day, hasn’t it?”
He stared at me for a silent moment. Finally, he said, “wait here,” and stepped out of the car.
He returned a few minutes later and handed me with $3 without saying anything.
As I slowly backed out of the narrow driveway, I threw a glance at the house behind the gate the man had just disappeared into. It looked outstanding even in this high class neighborhood. It is worth at least 10 times the flat I and my family live in.
I shook my head as I drove away.
Posted by Mingjie Cai at 1:14 PM 7 comments
April 1, 2009. Wednesday: How much is your honesty worth?
A white man in business attire carrying a briefcase boarded my taxi from the banking district around the end of the evening peak hours. He sat in the front passenger seat besides me and told me to go to Cluny road. As we started moving, he asked if I could accept payment by Nets. I said sorry I can’t because my taxi is not equipped for that. A stock answer that I use almost every day.
“I have only $10 cash,” he said. “But no worry. I’ll tell my wife to come out with the rest of the fare when we get there.”
“That will be great,” I replied.
He was an Englishman in his mid or late thirties, judging from his accent and the gentlemanly demeanor. He wore a suit that could easily cost a month of my earnings. He first adjusted the position of the seat to his satisfaction, and then took out a Blackberry and punched some keys. But he quickly put away the phone without waiting for the dial tone to appear. “The battery is dead,” he said to me. “Perhaps I can borrow your phone later to call my wife?”
“Yes, of course.”
But he never did. Some twenty minutes later, we reached his residence. The meter fare was $10.60.
“Thank God,” he sounded relieved, as if he had just emerged from a maze that had him trapped for a long time. “Lucky I have some coins with me”.
He handed me with a $10 note and some coins. I took the money and said, “The total is $13.60, with $3 CBD surcharge, Sir.”
“It says 10.60 right there.” He laid a finger on the meter. His tone had changed to an unpleasant one.
“Well,” I felt I was being pushed into a battle. “The surcharge doesn’t appear on my meter, but it is applicable from 5 to midnight for trips from CBD, as you probably know, Sir.”
“I take taxi every day,” he continued to press on. “All other taxis display whatever surcharges on the meter along with the fares and I pay for what’s on the meter. No more and no less.”
I composed my thoughts for a second or two and then turned to face him.
“Look,” I held his eyes with mine. “I know you know exactly how much this taxi ride will cost you. That’s why you said in the beginning that your $10 isn’t nearly enough to cover it. And I don’t believe what you said about other taxis. All the taxis of my company have the same type of meter as mine. There are thousands of them on the roads. So don’t tell me you never take one of these before. You want to waste your time with me or go back home. It’s been a long day, hasn’t it?”
He stared at me for a silent moment. Finally, he said, “wait here,” and stepped out of the car.
He returned a few minutes later and handed me with $3 without saying anything.
As I slowly backed out of the narrow driveway, I threw a glance at the house behind the gate the man had just disappeared into. It looked outstanding even in this high class neighborhood. It is worth at least 10 times the flat I and my family live in.
I shook my head as I drove away.
Posted by Mingjie Cai at 1:14 PM 7 comments
