Taxing times

THE other day I returned to Majorca in the early hours of the morning. Palma airport was quiet and as I waited for a taxi I noticed a young British family with three young children, one was a baby. It was about 3am and the family hailed a taxi but were quickly told by the driver that he couldn´t take five people, eventhough the other three in the party were very young.

So in the end they had to take two taxis costing probably in the region of 40 euros each because they were bound for Magalluf. 80 euros down and their holiday had just started. Now, the taxi driver played it by the book, he can´t take more than four people, but I did think that he could make an exemption especially when you consider that at least two in the party could be classed as babies. It reminded me of an incident, when I was about five, with the rest of my family. The family car broke down close to the airport. It was late at night and there were no mechanics about. So my parents decided to leave the car and return home in a taxi. Unfortunately, there were five in our group. We flagged down a cab, and the driver agreed to take us eventhough there were five of us. When we arrived home (about forty kilometres away) the taxi driver refused to charge us. He said that he had broken the law (by having six people in his car) and therefore there could be no charge. Incredible generosity. How Majorca has changed over the years.