Driving Taxi in Adelaide, Australia
在阿德雷得開出租
作為一名中國的訪問學(xué)者,作者在南澳的首府阿德雷得度過了一段美好的時(shí)光. 一位在業(yè)余時(shí)間開出租車的中學(xué)老師給她留下了尤其深刻的印象.
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia. It really is an elegant city, featuring traditional stone architecture and with encircling wide parklands. My main task was to see how English as a Second Language was taught in Australia and to help improve some teachers' cultural awareness there as well. I also acted as a support teacher for the Chinese students at the Adelaide Secondary School of English and stayed in the University of South Australia for a few weeks to do research with some of the lecturers there.
One of my friends, Christopher John Le May, who is a science teacher from SeatonHigh School, enjoys driving taxis during weekends and holidays. The following ishis story which so impressed me that I cannot help sharing with more people.
"Start as A New Hand"
I actually learnt to drive taxis in my hometown of Broken Hill, which is about 500km to the northeast of Adelaide, South Australia. Whenever I needed some extra money, all I needed to do was jump in a taxi. Not that the earnings were great but the convenience made it worthwhile.
Adelaide is a city of almost one million people. When I arrived in Adelaide, I didn't know the city at all. How could I earn a living by taxi-driving in Adelaide? In the beginning my license was not valid and I had to sit for a test before I would be given one.
Well, I was young and audacious1, so I decided to get to know Adelaide in theory at least by studying the street directory and learn where the main landmarks were, including hotels, main roads, important buildings and the airport.
The test was oral and from the start everything went smoothly. The examiner asked the expected questions and I gave him the correct locations. He seemed quite impressed with my local knowledge. Little did he realize that my knowledge was very theoretical. Then he decided to test me on my use of the street directory. He mentioned the name of a particular street in Adelaide and I would find it in the directory. The first street he asked was Liston Street, in the suburb of Parkside. Well, I was so lucky that my girlfriend at that time happened to live in Liston Street, Parkside! So I explained to the examiner how to get to this street withouteven looking at the directory. So surprised was he that he didn't ask me any more questions and gave me a pass with distinction!
Despite my success in getting my license, I was very nervous when I climbed intomy first taxi. I drove very slowly and many people blared their horns at me. Gradually I gained in confidence as I realized that most customers were happy to direct you to their destination. I didn't need to use the directory as often as I had thought.
There were however disadvantages in relying on customers to direct you as I found out when I picked up a customer from a hotel who had too much alcohol. He climbed into the taxi and was sitting directly behind me. He told me that he wanted togo home along one of the main roads leading out of the city. We made our way along the road and now and then I would check with him to make sure that we hadn't gone too far. However each time he answered: "Go on mate. Don't worry! I'll tell you when to turn!"
So I kept driving... and driving... and driving. Now I was getting a little worried and called out "Are you sure we haven't gone too far?" There was no answer. He'd fallen asleep. I pulled the car over to the side of the road and woke him up.
"Uh? What ...? Where the bloody hell are we? Where have you taken me?"
I managed to get him home eventually and only charged him what he should have paid. However, I'd learnt my lesson... Don't rely on intoxicated people to show youthe way. They'll lead you down the garden path!2
"Get Customers in Adelaide"
There are many taxi ranks around the city and all the driver needs to do is to park at one of these and wait for a customer to turn up. This sounds fairly straight forward but it isn't. The competition is hot for the popular ranks, so you could spend a long time prowling around the city before you find a vacant popular rank.
Another method of getting customers is to drive directly out into the suburbs. Each taxi automatically sends out a signal to a satellite which is in a stationary position above Adelaide (called the Global Positioning System). Then the computing system at the taxi company's central office builds up an ever changing database showing where all of the company's taxis are positioned at any given time. When a customer telephones for a taxi, their details are typed in and the computer matches these details with those of the taxis out in the suburbs. A signal is sent to the driver who is closest, asking him to press a button if he wants the job. The address of the customer then appears on his screen. Sounds simple? It is and it works very well. The system can even rank drivers so the driver who arrives in a given suburb first is offered a job before drivers who arrive later. It is thusa very fair system.
The last and easiest way of getting a customer is to get a direct hail from the side of the road while en route. This is more likely to happen when the weather conditions are poor especially when it's raining cats and dogs!
"I Enjoy the Job"
Apart from the feeling of freedom there is also the enjoyment of talking to a wide range of people, from tourists, pensioners to government bureaucrats.
The most humorous story came from another taxi driver who was my last customer for one day. He told me about a woman that he picked up one Sunday. She asked to be taken to a nearby shopping center. They arrived and she was surprised that very few people were around there. He replied that most stores are closed on Sundays.
"Sunday? " she replied. "It's not Sunday. It's Monday, isn't it? Oh no, that's very bad as I wanted to go to the bank. I have no money and I need go shopping for food." Well, she had no money for food, nor for the taxi fare. He couldn't just leave her there, so he lent her $20 to buy food and gave her his address and phone number so that his money could be returned when she could afford it.
Well, he didn't hear from her so he assumed that he'd never see the money again.However a week later he was called to the same supermarket. He was to pick up the same lady. This time there was another taxi already there waiting for her. Apparently she had called the first taxi, loaded her shopping into the taxi, then asked him to wait as she had forgotten something to buy. She went into the store, bought what she needed, forgot that she had a taxi waiting for her, and ordered another taxi! Fortunately she remembered the kind-hearted driver and what he had done for her. At last she returned the money. What an absent-minded person!
These days I don't drive taxis very often. If I need some extra cash it's nice that it's something I can fall back on, and I know that I can look forward to the cool clear air in the morning when there's so little traffic, the special sight of the sun peeping over the Adelaide Hills, the sounds of the city waking up... And what interesting people am I going to meet today?
1. audacious/0:#dei12s/:大膽的,敢于冒險(xiǎn)的.
2. lead sb. up (down) the garden (path): <口>把某人引入歧途.