I remember the famous London Taxi’s of long ago when the driver had an open platform to his side where luggage could be carried at the mercy of the weather. Later they did away with the platform and relied on a trunk and though the appearance of the taxi changed slightly the drivers didn’t. They were civilized and polite and had no need of a GPS in that immense city.
Not understanding the language I don’t remember if the Italian taxi drivers were polite and civilized or not, but I do remember this…. It seemed very important to them that they show the reason a name like Mario Andretti originated in Italy. I must concede I always got from A to Z in rapid fashion.
The taxi drivers in the numerous parts of Spain I’ve been to were not quite as excitable as the Italians and though they drove almost as fast it always seemed to take quite a bit longer to get anywhere . The fact that I always seemed to recognize the same landmarks twice before arriving likely had plenty to do with that expensive fact. I suppose I could go on and regale you with taxi tales from New York to Bali but instead will stop short with the Colombian taxi’s.
Colombian taxi drivers are rather…“daring“. I would prefer descriptive’s such as insane or just plain stupid but the wife being Colombian prefers I use …“daring“. In fact Colombia is the only nation I’ve been in which I’ve actually demanded a taxi “Stop right the frig here!” … and let me out. It would seem the more fear you show the more “daring” they become and nowhere else have I experienced such an interesting mindset as the one I’m about to describe……
Picture if you will its night time and your taxi is barreling towards that four way intersection and that eight sided red sign internationally recognized as STOP . Suddenly its apparent that stopping is not on the drivers mind at all as he sounds the horn, kills the headlights and speeds through the intersection in total darkness as you push your feet deep into the floor of the 1959 Ford and choke on your heart.
“If I kill my headlights I can see the headlights coming from the sides and I’ll know I should stop” …the drivers will explain.
This explanation was told me more than once and I’ll have to concede the concept holds some merit. The idea would in reality be brilliant I guess but for one ignored and simple fact. That fact being that “everyone” there believes this concept holds merit …..and turn off their headlights at intersections.
And when fatigued with this Roadside Russian Roulette… Please…. make sure to check the tires of the bus before boarding….
