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Category: Travel and Places
Personal Experience: A ride home in a cab ends in a physical assault.
PSYCHO CABBIES
By Phill Feltham
24 Seven Magazine -- November 2006
Not even five days after my arrival in Taiwan, I got myself beat up by a few taxi drivers. It was my first real eye opener. On February 4th, 2005, a new buddy of mine from the hostel, Glen and I were jumped by taxi drivers after coming home from the bar.
The cabbie was ripping us off for the taxi fare, so we told him to stop the car. We got out of the cab and paid him only part of the fare that was on the meter. The fare was 250NT - we gave him 100NT and walked away. The cabbie cut us off at the next intersection, got out and disputed with Glen, his girlfriend, Carolyn and myself about the fare.
Unfortunately, there was a huge communication problem because he spoke Chinese and we didn't so we just continued to walk. At some point, as we walked nearer to the hostel, I felt like we were being followed. I turned to see the cab driving slowly behind us while we walked. We quickly went into a convenience store to talk about our next move and decided to simply make sure our entrance into our hostel was very discreet.
Unfortunately, our hostel backed onto an alley which made it easy for mischief to occur unnoticed. It was while we were making our way up the alley that we saw three cabs pull up, each driver armed with steal pipes. Now, I didn't want these guys knowing where we were staying, and I think Glen and Carolyn felt the same way, so we stayed to try to resolve the dispute rather than running inside our hostel. But resolution wasn't to be found.
One guy hit my left arm, and then my left leg. I dropped to the ground and played comatose so any damage would be minimal.
It all happened so fast that I can't be sure of all the details. I heard Carolyn screaming, and then felt the hits stop, the sound of foot steps, doors slamming, and then the screeching of tires. I stayed on the ground for what I felt was a good few minutes. I heard Carolyn run off screaming Glen's name: I feared the worse. I can't remember exactly what happened next. I think I got up and Glen and Carolyn were both standing over me. When we felt it was safe, the three of us went into the hostel.
At the time, we were shaken up pretty bad. I asked Glen what had happened to him and he said he fled to the convenience store after seeing the cabbies coming at him with their wannabe weapons. He was hit in the ribs and on his shoulder while trying to flee. My left leg had a small bruise, and my forearm and now my shoulder were sore. The psycho cabbies never touched Carolyn. Probably because she was female.
For the first couple of days afterwards, I kept looking over my shoulder at each of the thousands of cabbies that circle the city. I didn't take a taxi for a couple of months after the incident but now they're the best people to practice my Chinese with.
The hard part about this experience is that there was no real way to seek justice. When my family and friends heard the story, they said I should talk to the authorities, but I just wanted to forget it ever happened. Plus, I didn't want to go through the hassle of spending my first days in Taiwan speaking with the police.
It was a learning experience. Sounds twisted? Maybe, but you have to watch yourself and watch what you do, especially if you're in someone else's country. Always pay attention to your actions and what people are trying to communicate to you. That way, you'll be able to stay out of trouble.
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