The Taxi Game

Well I've had my fill of Taxis. Stuck in traffic is one thing, you may not be going anywhere fast but at least there's the prospect you'll get there eventually. Getting a taxi is a crap-shoot. Sometimes the laws of supply and demand are just not in your favour and taxis in Dubai are one of those times.

Earlier this week I waited in the taxi-queue for about 35 minutes to get home (which happens every day). I finally get to the front of the line and a taxi finally shows up and I gleefully jump in and say, "to Al Raffa please", expecting the car to zoom away and I'd be home in a jiffy. Not so. Driver says he doesn't know where. No problem. I whip out a business card from the hotel which, conveniently, has directions and a little map printed on the backside c/w major landmarks. Still not moving. Still doesn't know. Like, WTF?! I point to the GPS on his dash. Suddenly he doesn't understand English and I lost the battle. He was determined to not pick up a "short" fare and I had to get out and wait again (but not before I gave him a schooling in Canadian superlatives and I know darn well he understood. Idiot!)

Next taxi that came along was more agreeable and spoke excellent English and was most pleasant (as most of them seem to be). As nice as he was to me as a passenger, that did not transfer over to the other drivers on the road -- he was the epitome of everything we hate about other drivers! But he got me home.

During that white-knuckle ride home, a motorcyclist rode past my taxi, weaving in and out of traffic, squeezing in between lanes of cars and busses and Hummers. As he rode past, I caught a glimpse the slogan on his t-shirt, “Have fun, Ride safe”. Ha!