Impromptu tour of the city

Impromptu tour of the city

As a foreign resident of Indonesia, I have seen more than my
fair share of con artists, but a taxi driver working for Gading
Taxi company tops them all.

On April 30, 1996, I boarded his cab on Jl. Kwitang, Senen, on
my way to an important meeting in Tamara Center on Jl. Sudirman.
Perhaps sensing my foreign accent, the driver -- on the pretext
of avoiding a traffic jam -- went on an impromptu tour of the
city which took me as far away as Slipi. At this point, he put on
a performance worthy of an Oscar and said that he actually did
not know where Jl. Jend. Sudirman was. Eventually arriving at my
destination an hour late, the driver then insisted that I had to
add a few thousand rupiah more to his metered rate (forgetting
that he had earlier told me that his meter had already been
adjusted).

Calling the Gading Taxi office later, I was told that they had
no driver with the name or ID number I mentioned. Perhaps, they
said, the original driver sublet his cab to another person over
whom they had no jurisdiction. Attempts to reach the manager of
the taxi company proved just as frustrating, as he always seemed
to be unavailable.

A taxi driver who doesn't know the busiest street in the city
and a taxi company that doesn't know who is driving its cabs is
unbelievable.

C. NELSON

Jakarta