I am a teacher, so why you wonder, do I bother to talk to taxi drivers? I talk to them because they are people you don't notice everyday but more often than not they probably notice you. Nevermind that you will never remember them, their faces, their demeanors. It is meant to be that way. It's the same way you don't remember cleaning ladies/gentlemen in restaurants or malls. They keep their heads low so you never notice them. But hell do they know many things about people around them all the time. You don't heed them listening (eavesdropping) or glancing over (spying) and like oysters under murky, nutrient or waste-rich waters they sift and filter through everything. They know some things you don't expect them to mostly mundane daily activities, mannerisms and gossips. In the workplace, it is always helpful to befriend low-levelled blue-collared workers as they are mostly loyal and helpful with things around. They can be your eyes and ears to help you tread carefully within the halls of politics and personal agenda.
It is from a taxi driver that I learned how local fishermen in coastal communities know when a tsunami or storm surge is impending without direct information from authorities. It is from a taxi driver that I learned that sardine and "tuloy" or Pacific herring are two different fish despite looking similar to my untrained eyes. This time around, I was schooled on the corruption in the LTFRB, how new taxi franchises are still being given despite the cut-off limit and how corruption cannot be curbed because with the bribe changing hands many times before eventually reaching the boss, and with everyone involved getting to wet their beaks, it is extremely difficult to trace the money. But hey, this isn't the only thing I learned that night. Here is a taxi driver, explaining to a university instructor, how a taxi running on LPG runs. He mentioned about chemicals and safety nets to prevent leakage of LPG and subsequent conversion of toxic gases back into the taxi endangering drivers from overexposure to this potentially harmful gas. He also explained to me how the initial run of the coal-fired power plant failed. He told me it is highly likely that the dumbasses of corporate investors of that powerplant attempted to use a cheaper ,less refined and more toxic fuel which thankfully failed to function as well as the conventional although still environmentally harmful fuel. The danger this powerplant and those taxis running on LPG, he said, is their ability to exhaust hydrogen sulfine which is very harmful both the environment and to living organisms. It was only then did he tell me he used to be a chemical engineer in the middle east who squandered everything he had on gambling and vices. He was very optimistic that eventually things will get better and his financial state will improve.
As he dropped me off, I gave him an extra tip (I usually do for taxi drivers who entertain me). Yes, there are many taxi drivers who are of questionable character especially when I take the cab drunk or they think I'm drunk. They try to weasel more from what I truly owe them using a variety of tactics to confuse me. In that case, I never give them a single centavo more of what I owe them. It's crap and though I believe most of them do it only because the operator's demand for boundary is really high, I believe it is always wrong to exploit people monetary-wise if you know deep inside that you don't really deserve their money.
This lovely exchange served as a lesson of humility for me. I was privileged to take that faceless man's cab and enjoyed a truly meaningful conversation with him. I uttered a silent prayer for him as he sped away from my drop off point, eager to share what he knows to those who ask and eager to learn more.
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