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TRAGIC, frustrating, humorous, surreal and
occasionally (read: very, very rarely) moving,
taxi tales abound in
Athens
the urban jungle. If the Athens News
got all its readers to send in only one of
their own, with attached complaints, we could
put out a millennial 10,000-page taxi issue in
which each page would be broken into at least
three letters, poems and theses.
Those guys sure now how to irk us, to the
extent, perhaps, that one begins to wonder
whether they receive special training to do
so. Irking School would probably hold
auditions and long questionnaires, and once
the driver was accepted, he or she would have
to constantly report back with news of
progress: "Today I got an old lady to swear in
a way she would never dream and slam
the door in a rage. Over." Two nodding dogs
for you! There would be a great deal of
masonic-style secrecy within the institution
because irk-found progress, based on esoteric
skills, would gradually lead to promotion, and
then advancement to power, and power to stud
taxi-driver prestige.
The
Irking
School
may be fictional, but I can assure you that
Taxi Therapy is not.
Certainly there are no regular meetings or
special therapy centres, but what makes it
even more prominent and widespread is the fact
that it happens throughout the city, all the
time. While you read the last sentence, around
five million people asked for or received taxi
therapy from friends, family, neighbours and
colleagues, and researchers reveal that the
end of it isn't in sight, as the graph line
for pessimistic taxi thoughts and disquieting
taxi feelings just keeps rising
ominously.
It has been many a time that I have taken on
the frightful vigilante role when dealing with
cab drivers. Essential is the quality of
unshakeable determination to see your fight
through and not be taken for a ride. Sometimes
I have done it by keeping my voice low and
eerily cool whilst pouring in a good dose of
legal blackmail that makes the driver
voicelessly do things as he really should.
Other times I have been in such a state of
angry disbelief of the driver's nerve or
ignorance for his own professional
responsibilities that losing control didn't
prove too difficult: but even in those cases I
usually got my valid point across (or just
"vented") and that seemed like a good
start.
And then there are all the times in between
when I was just too tired to fight for my
rights, because I knew it was just a drop in
the ocean, and drowning in a drop was just too
pathetic a way to perish.
Amazingly, we have a great deal of rights that
the grand majority is not aware of. Is the
glass half empty or half full for you, because
if it's half empty you also are prone to
believing that
Greece
is half empty of protective citizenship laws.
Sure, be a realist, but realise also that you
do have rights and, regardless of the hassle
and bureaucracy you'll have to go through in
order to see them being implemented in your
name, it can be done. Contrary to popular
belief, most drivers know what those laws and
regulations are, but they often have the last
laugh because they also know that most people
are ignorant of them.
However, it must also be said that in the
numerous situations when I have confronted
drivers about their illegal ways or have
witnessed other cab-goers do the same, the
cabbie has turned on the charm, the
philosophical banter or the sympathy tune in
order to get the callous client on his side,
and it often works too. "Why should it bother
you if I pick someone else up if your journey
doesn't go off course? I have ten children and
a parakeet to feed and the prices of petrol
these days are unbelievable. How can you
expect us to be as efficient and respectful
as
London
drivers when we receive one-twentieth of the
fare?" "Umm", you say, feeling particularly
guilty about your seemingly inconsiderate,
tight-wad, anal comments, "OK".
When speaking to the vice-president of the
Athens Taxi Association, Lefteris Terzakis, I
had to stop myself from laughing raucously. I
had asked him how drivers are informed or
educated about their professional
responsibilities, their rights and the rights
of the client.
His answer was that every two months they
receive a newspaper at their home in which all
this information is published. Can you
mentally build the image of a driver boiling
the kettle and settling in his comfy chair to
eagerly read this very paper, suddenly see the
light, and later discuss the new policies with
other drivers, not to mention put them into
practise?
We have all experienced the abuse of the
regulation which says that a taxi driver must
take you exactly where you please if he has
the "Elefthero" (vacant) sign up.
Kifissia's taxi mob was recently in the news
because of this. Taxi drivers park their
automobiles outside the train station there
and smoke their cigarette, waiting to pick
their customers. They will only take you if
you are going exactly where they please, and
usually this is somewhere in the
vicinity.
They will often also make you wait in their
cab as they try and find another customer for
the same ride.
Someone finally spoke up and called a radio
programme on Sky channel, hosted by journalist
Manos Tsilimides, to make his complaint
public. Tsilimides' show is of a vigilante
nature, as whomever he takes calls from is
given the thrill of consequently hearing him
call up as many people in responsible
positions as he can reach. In this case he
rang up the mayor of Kifissia, Vassilis
Varsos, and the president of the Athens Taxi
Association, Thimios Limberis.
That one call from a listener and the radio
host's ensuing actions led to a huge flow of
other callers who had experienced the same
injustice at the northern suburb's taxi rank.
The florist who works in that area revealed to
me that he witnessed the drivers listening to
the show and discussing the issue "very
seriously; some looked really
concerned."
Listeners were encouraged to fight for their
rights in relation to taxis. The next time my
father purposely chose this very taxi rank for
a trip to central
Athens
during rush-hour traffic, his request was
rudely rejected. He got into the cab and
insisted he be taken where he wanted. The
driver argued. Until, that is, my father
calmly replied that he would leave the car
only when he received the driver's name,
surname and licence-plate number, so that he
could go to the police and sue him for 1360 euros, which is the fine he can receive for
behaving this way. Needless to say, the cabbie
got in, slammed the door and, mumbling
angrily, took him where he wanted to
go.
A story that inspires hope. Live your own. But
first, study the laws.
Regulations that taxi drivers must adhere
to:
* The taxi must be kept in a clean, orderly
condition.
*
The driver is not allowed to smoke, play music
or open windows unless he asks for, and
receives, the client's approval.
*
The client too must ask for permission to
smoke.
*
When the driver has the Elefthero
(literally "free") sign up at the front of the
cab, he cannot refuse the client's request for
going to any given place.
*
The driver must have an A-Z road map in his
taxi.
*
The driver has no right to stop for other
customers unless he has asked for, and
received, the customer's permission.
*
The driver has the right to refuse service to
customers who display drunken or disorderly
behaviour.
*
The cab must have a working metre.
*
The taxi metre should show the fare in
euros.
*
The driver is obliged to provide customers
with a receipt upon request, and if he has no
receipt-book available, he should write one
up.
*
Minimum fare is
2.65 euros
*
Starting fare is one
euro
*
Any piece of luggage over 10 kilograms can be
charged at maximum .32 euros
*
Booking an appointment with a radio taxi costs
2.06 euros
See Also Athens Airport and George the Famous Taxi Driver
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