I blistered the taxi drivers ears! Some Dubai taxi drivers like to rip off their passengers because they think that they are smart and that everyone who looks different is a tourist. I gained sufficient experience of their dodgy antics during my early months of living here and because the black community around my area is thin, there’s high tendency of people assuming that I’m a tourist.

My car was taken for service and I had to be somewhere in a hurry. I didn’t want to take the train and stop at all the stations and possibly get to my destination hot and late. I hate going late for appointments.

I also didn’t feel like joining the bus and having a leisure ride through town.

I knew where I was going and what it would cost me to get there give and take the traffic flow. I’ve been there, many times over.

So, I took a taxi and the driver decided to take me on an Israelites journey through the wilderness and he meandered through all the nooks and crannies and the longest route available in town so that his meter would run as high as possible.

I wasn’t in the mood for a scenic view of the town and had not made such a request – no thank you! My interest wasn’t in getting to know about the best Indian restaurant around or about the cheaper malls that are having sales.

Yes, I enjoy Bollywood movies now and again, but I didn’t want to talk about it with you. That I’m a black woman alone doesn’t mean that I’m out looking for a good time.

All I wanted was to compose my marketing thoughts together and to get to my appointment on time.

Maybe the fact that I told him to concentrate on his driving made him decide to run off with me

Now and again my charitable side overlooks a dirham here and there and I leave some change for them ‘cos I know that it’s a struggle for them as well, but what I can’t stand is the smart Alec nonsense some of them come up with and the sudden convenient pretense not to understand English well enough. That’s just annoying!

I blistered his ears and told him that next time he pulls such nonsensical stunt he just might meet the wrong passenger who would report him to RTA (Road Transport Authority).

I felt ripped off. Thankfully after a rigmarole that cost me almost double the normal fare, I got to my meeting early enough.

Jacqueline

Image credit: Wikipedia