It pays to be honest

[henryb]

Look at his comment from the eyes of someone NOT living in Buenos Aires.

When people see a headline in newspapers about plane crash, does it stop them from flying? Nope, just because an accident is considered to be so newsworthy to hit the front pages, flying in general is presumed to be safe. So, why the same logic can not be applied here?

As to the "Man of the Year" award, I'd give it to Stafford. OMG, he actually crossed the street to get another cab. This is top notch urban survival skills. He did not even ask why the government did not send a subsidized taxi to take him home.

 

[marksoc]

If all the taxis had mandatory GPS, there would be no scenic routes around the city. But again, somebody would tamper with the technology. Taxi drivers are not the most honest people in the world, and is not exactly their fault.
Have you noted how low-paying jobs are similar around the world? The cashier at the supermarket, the McDonalds guy, the taxi driver... If conditions are the same, and pay is scant, the attitude is similar, doesn´t matter if you are in Paris, NYC or BA.

 

[va2ba]

Have you noted how low-paying jobs are similar around the world? The cashier at the supermarket, the McDonalds guy, the taxi driver... If conditions are the same, and pay is scant, the attitude is similar, doesn´t matter if you are in Paris, NYC or BA.

Taxi drivers are comparatively well paid here. They are not rich for sure, but a lot of them are comfortably middle class.

 

[Stafford]

Just woke up, remembering our good experience coming home, but sort of scratching my head to remember the drunk thread I started and what the response may have been. Well I am glad to report - fully sober - that that is exactly how I remember everything going down, and I have no regrets in posting it. I wish I'd gotten the guy's card. Damn it! Will make a point of doing so next time. The idea of collecting a list of trust worthy people to do business in this country is super bien. We should totally do it. Alright, on to coffee and a hangover breakfast. Glad this got a good response and that people generally understood my point in seeing the good in people + reporting it.

 

[YanquiGallego]

there are quite a few nice BA cabbies. I forgot my wallet once and couldnt pay one one time, and he kindly let me go, gave me his business card and said to call him for future services. that earned him an airport trip

 

[nicoenarg]

Its a sad state of affairs when someone who does their job is hailed as a hero. However, the positive in this is that in a place where no one does their job right and dishonesty prevails then being honest is not that easy of a thing to do. So, looking at it from that perspective, I am glad the OP put this post up. There is still some hope.

 

[Napoleon]

Just woke up...

The idea of collecting a list of trust worthy people to do business in this country is super bien. We should totally do it.

Alright, on to coffee and a hangover breakfast...

This is a great idea by the way.

Someone just posted their list of trustworthy laborers he had accumulated doing work on his house. He was leaving Argentina and wanted honest, hardworking people to continue to get work.

Having a BA EXPAT'S LIST is a good idea, but...

...I've seen things turn political on this board. Certain companies may get pumped up for certain affiliations and then other's get disappeared. If we're going to have a list, there would need to be confirmation from the powers that be that there would not be any playing of favorites allowed.

Perhaps something like a Guia Oleo, Yelp, TripAdvisor review system so that multiple people would be allowed to comment on the validity of a company's/someone's honesty rather than just a list of some names.

 

[mariposa]

Actually I have so many wonderful experiences with all my Porteño friends (every day!), I find it difficult to read all this knee-jerk negativity on this website every day. I, too, meet my share of local jerks every day (and i mean, every day) but so do my Porteño friends. But I could start a new thread about how many Argentine strangers have been kind to me/helped me out, etc...

 

[Sockhopper]

Could it be that the very expectation that “as an expat” you’ll be cheated encourage this happening? I find the OP’s positive impression of his cabby’s behaviour very refreshing in the context of this forum. His experience in no way suggests that he found that so only because cabbies (or any group of portenos providing a service) are generally dishonest, lazy or not to be trusted. That’s an irrational generalization. But if that is supposed to be the expectation of an ‘expat’ then I’d rather not identify myself as one should I move to BA because that identity would leave me no room to say I was happy with the transactions I might have with portenos without someone suspecting my intelligence or experience. Or it would leave me open to being told that my good feelings about a porteno are invalid and are the mere product of so many other cabbies or portenos having actually ripped off me and other expats. It’s completely acceptable to commend anyone who did something nice for you without being told that your appreciation was warped or unearned because it doesn’t conform with the larger, negative picture so often promoted here. That chills people being happy about living in BA.

I’m not an expat but a repeat visitor who’s spent altogether just 6 months in BA and used some 1,274 cabs. Not one cabby has ripped me off. Far from it! I can’t begin to count the myriad ways in which cabbies have treated me so much better than their counterparts at home have. It would take me 7 pages to itemize those kindnesses. (And no, I’m not rich or dumb. Travel and living abroad have been constant passions since I was a kid.) Recently, a BA cabby gave me the CD he’d been playing during the drive just because I’d said it was good music that I’d not before heard. Others scribble down websites and contact addresses of things they, their friends or parents like or belong to after I talk with them somehow although we share no common language. To me, these cabbies substitute for a strong police presence on the streets. They’re there for you. And they wait after you get out to ensure that you got into your building safely. I can’t name another country where cabbies do this.

If you knew the assaults, terror and abuse I’ve suffered at the hands of some cabbies where I live that are triggered by a revulsion of gender equality – abuse that the taxi regulator in my city said we as woman have to put up with because despite our country being one of the word’s wealthiest we wouldn’t otherwise be able to even afford to have taxis – you wouldn’t be at all surprised at my telling you this. I would trade these very dangerous drivers any day if I could for any 400 BA cabbies you’d choose at random to exchange with me. I’d give you 3-4 times that number and consider myself to have got the better of our deal.

 

[nicoenarg]

The OP said:

"The cabbie was not IRA - not radio. But who cares. He actually took us home perfectly. Crossed Libertador on Maure (rather than pretending to think that he could get to Teodoro Garcia after Olleros), and took Soldado de la Independencia (rather than pretending he could get to aforementioned street by continuing up Maure). After several years living at this address, I know every trick in the book. My Argentine partner said, "que bueno. Usted es honesto y no se aprovechan un par de borrachos". He told us that, yeah, he actually takes pride in making an honest living unlike most taxistas working this hour around the clubs."

All that is awesome but sorry, that only sounds like he was doing his job. And even the OP's Argentina partner was surprised. Need I say more?