Insult

Saturday night on Oxford Street builds slowly towards midnight when the strip starts jumping with the endless arrival of drunk and excited clubbers. They are invariably aged in their twenties which is why I first noticed an older woman amongst the pedestrian traffic.

What also caught my eye was she was struggling against the flow towards the cab as I waited at lights. Unusually for this place late at night were her two kids, one on the hip and a toddler being dragged by the hand...

She frantically signalled me and as the light changed I hesitated as she was obviously desperate for a cab. With car horns blaring she hustled them into the back seat. “Thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart," she panted, "you’re the first taxi who would take us.”

Around a dozen cabs had rejected her, she claimed, despite there being plenty of Vacant taxis after delivering passengers to Oxford Street. What's up with these clowns, I wondered, why do they bother coming to work?

As we took off I instructed her to belt-up the kids but the child she cradled started whinging and she relented by sharing a seat belt with her. They were both long past bedtime and were soon asleep as we headed down Southern Cross Drive.

Without any prompting she revealed that her husband had just whacked her in the mouth, so she’d grabbed the kids and got out of the car. “We’ve been to a family celebration today at a bowling club and he lost $1000 on the poker machines. He played them for hours and wouldn’t leave until eleven o’clock.”

I told her it was good she got out of the car but didn’t labour the point as she was clearly in shock and distraught. The kids were soon asleep to the rhythmic beating of the tyres belting down the expressway and I left her to some gentle country music playing in the background.

Soon enough we arrived at their home and was directed onto the property to the front door. She started fumbling for money, once again thanking me from the bottom of her heart. The fare was $50 but she suddenly realised that her husband had also cleaned out her purse.

On the verge of tears she extracted a debit card, relieved that I had an EFTPOS terminal. However not being a regular taxi user she was surprised by the surcharge and with some embarrassment I explained that the 10% went to the taxi company rather than the driver.

It was the final insult on a disastrous day.

Comments

[Andy]

I'll never understand some guys...just baffles me, seriously... maybe it just is a matter of upbringing

[Mick]

Gooday Adrian
How do you go with the new child restraint laws. Do they apply to cabs?

[adrian]

Mick, the kids seat belt law apply to everyone, except for buses which don't have belts. In this case I failed to stipulate separate belts as parents generally know this, only at the end realising the shared belt arrangement.

[Sarah]

She still went back to the home they shared together, so she had the strength to escape the car, but not the house that a voilent man was comming home to.

[Mick]

Gooday Adrian,
I wasn't pointing an accusing finger, I was thinking about the new laws that require children under the age of 7 to have a special booster seat.

I have since had a look at the RTA website and taxis are excempt.

Cheers
Mick

[adrian]

Understood, Mick. The booster seat requirement was too unwieldy for cabs, I guess.'

Good point, Sarah...(shudder).

[crjc]

Nice to see you back Adrian!

Two of our cars have booster seats built in.

[adrian]

Thanks, crjc. Are booster seats mandatory in Canadian taxis?