As I stood waiting for the bus, I saw a number of other busses go by and realized that mine was running late.
I saw a couple of taxis drive by and thought about flagging one. Then I wondered if that was even possible here. Apparently, the rules of the game do not allow you to flag a taxi in Minneapolis, for example.
After contemplating whether it was possible or not, I started to consider the cost and remembered the taxi situation in Bolivia. There, they would take you a couple of miles for 3 or 4 bolivianos ($.38 US or $.50 US). I went out into the countryside by taxi for 40 bolivianos round trip ($5.00 US). I spent more on the wine than on the transportation to get there. The bus in town only cost 1.5o bolivianos ($.19 US)...on the other hand, the busses were small, crowded, smelly, and always in danger of breaking down. If you had a couple people standing around waiting for the bus, a taxi driver would often drive by and offer to take you "a precio de micro" (for the price of bus fare).
I came to the quick realization that no American taxi-driver would ever offer to take me or even a group of friends for the price of bus fare any distance. *sighs* The moral of the story is that taxis are affordable for a middle class person in Bolivia, but not in America. (I got where I was going today on time, despite the late bus.)
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1 comment:
I can imagine that by the time you finished reminising on Bolivia’s taxi costs, your bus was there! LOL! See you'll have to teach me to do that cause if the bus is late then i'll just flag a cab and not think twice about it. (given that I have paper money one me, which i hardly ever carry)
Keep up the good thinking
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