We’ll Catch a Cab….

We are becoming more skilled at arranging taxi services. So when we arranged for a taxi to attend an Overseas Women’s Club social event that included husbands, we approached the 20 km trip with a sense of confidence. Helen arranged for a taxi to arrive at 7:15 pm that would allow us to arrive by 8:00 pm at the Windsor. When 7:40 came and went but we had not, Helen checked with taxi company. ”Oh, your driver has already arrived.” Hmmmm. The protocol is for the driver to call one’s mobile or house phone upon arrival. No problem; a fashionably late entrance would be our style this evening.

After a little difficulty communicating our destination, we were on our way….or so we thought. After 10 minutes we found the taxi slowing down and our driver pulling to the curbside. The engine stopped. Many attempts at starting the engine resulted in nothing more than a drained battery. Stuck-inside-a-taxi blues.

As we sat in the taxi, we noticed that we were not alone in our troubles.

Across the median, a white car was stopped in the center lane of the heavy stop and go traffic. An enormous bus attempted to pass the stalled car on the right. Inching forward, the bus driver found himself wedged between the foot-high road median and the stalled car. Two thirds of the roadway was now blocked. On the other third, two cows were ambling slowly forward. The perfect Traffic Storm. What a sight and you should have heard the HONKING!

Thirty minutes after we stopped, two of the driver’s colleagues appeared with a two liter plastic Coke bottle filled with petrol. Re-fueled, but without battery, the taxi was now pushed by our driver’s colleagues to jump start the engine. We get out after the first attempt. More attempts; some driving about in a parking lot to fill the fuel lines. We got back into the taxi and drove on to the Windsor Manor. We weren’t the last ones to arrive, either!