Thank you Blue Bird

Thank you Blue Bird

On the odd occasion that I have glanced at the Letters section
-- normally to catch up on the latest installment of who is
verbally attacking who -- I have not helped but notice the
continual cascade of bad publicity directed toward taxi operators
in Jakarta. Of the latter, I feel I must share my experience of
last week as an indication that in some sectors of the industry,
all is certainly not lost.

On Dec. 2 I climbed into the back of a Blue Bird taxi (no.
A486 -- Bapak Rukman), paid the due fare on arrival at Senayan
Plaza and leapt out, running up the steps of the mall, leaving
wife and daughter in my wake (I thought I had money to spend at
that stage). Horror and uncontrollable panting struck
simultaneously 10 minutes later when I realized I was without a
bean, i.e., minus my wallet!

I had no idea what the taxi cab number was, who the driver
was, and where it had gone to get its next fare. But I was sure
that I had dropped my wallet in the rear of the Blue Bird taxi. A
general state of panic was declared as we rushed back to the
hotel to swap calls with Blue Bird.

To their credit and to Bapak Rukman's integrity my wallet was
returned (moths and all) a couple of hours later to my hotel. All
cash and cards accounted for.

Your professional honesty is highly appreciated. My sincere
thanks to the Blue Bird Group, and to the driver of A486, "you
deserve a raise, Bapak". I leave Indonesia in just over a week
and after spending the past three-and-a-half years in the
country, this incident only serves to reaffirm my impression of
the people of this land. In one word -- wonderful!

K. SCOTT A. THOMPSON

Dahai, South Kalimantan