I am back home in Manila from India. I got in on Tuesday night. When I stepped out of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal I, I immediately proceeded to the Metered Taxi stand to get a cab. The airport now boasts a fleet of yellow cabs that can take you anywhere with just a slightly higher flag down rate. Every time the meter ticks, 4 pesos is added to the flag down compared to the regular 2.50 with a regular cab. About 5 minutes after the cabbie started driving, I noticed that the meter was not on. I asked the driver politely where the meter was just in case it was located somewhere unusual that made me miss it. (I based my question on the one time I got on a cab with a meter just above the rear view mirror.)
It turned out that the meter was right in front of us but was switched off. The driver was trying to scam me. He started asking me how much it cost me to get from the airport to Quezon City where I lived. I gave him the lowest amount possible and asked him nicely to switch the meter on. He then started to pretend that he didn't know his way around the city and pestered me with directions. I told him to take the nearest and fastest way but in the end he took a longer one. We spent around 20 minutes going around Makati so that by the time we got on EDSA, which I told him to take, the meter said I owed him more than 200 hundred pesos. I knew I was home because I had just stepped right into a highway robbery.
Anyway, I have more horrific cab stories than this. Suffice it to say that my body has not yet readjusted to being back home. I have been wanting to write about my experience in India but it will not just be. I guess I will finally be able to write it next week. In the mean time, the girls are getting ready to celebrate our 4th anniversary at the beach. Tomorrow, Friday and Saturday, different batches of girls will trek to Puerto Galera for a weekend celebration of successes in the past year and those we hope to achieve in the coming one.
It turned out that the meter was right in front of us but was switched off. The driver was trying to scam me. He started asking me how much it cost me to get from the airport to Quezon City where I lived. I gave him the lowest amount possible and asked him nicely to switch the meter on. He then started to pretend that he didn't know his way around the city and pestered me with directions. I told him to take the nearest and fastest way but in the end he took a longer one. We spent around 20 minutes going around Makati so that by the time we got on EDSA, which I told him to take, the meter said I owed him more than 200 hundred pesos. I knew I was home because I had just stepped right into a highway robbery.
Anyway, I have more horrific cab stories than this. Suffice it to say that my body has not yet readjusted to being back home. I have been wanting to write about my experience in India but it will not just be. I guess I will finally be able to write it next week. In the mean time, the girls are getting ready to celebrate our 4th anniversary at the beach. Tomorrow, Friday and Saturday, different batches of girls will trek to Puerto Galera for a weekend celebration of successes in the past year and those we hope to achieve in the coming one.
3 comments:
Congratulations on STRAP's 4th anniversary.
Hope the conference was a success, and sorry to hear about the crap you dealt with on your cab ride home.
May STRAP continue to grow and be a successful advocate for transpinays.ousteb
Thank you Monica! Your friendship and support from across the oceans really means a lot.
You ladies in STRAP have our backs, and I have yours.
As I've said over an over, being transgender and fighting for constitutionally guaranteed civil rights in every one of our homelands is a worldwide issues.
What affects you in the Philippines affects me in the US
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