I take the shuttle bus from my doorstep to the local supermarket. It’s free and most importantly, it’s door to door, so very convenient. We got a new driver a few months ago and he is a nasty old guy, always late and rude. I however have a decent Nihao-xiexie-bye bye relationship. Yesterday, as I was settling in, no other passenger was on board yet and he told me to buy him coffee. Not requested, asked or joked. Ni qing wo kafei…stunned! I pretended not to get it (I didn’t get it, I thought I heard him wrong) so I told him I don’t understand. He simply, stated in English, “you buy me coffee”. Flustered, I just shrugged and said “next time”. He then pointed his finger with and with a bin lang filled mouth said, Not to forget, next time coffee.
UGGHGGGGHHHHHH. Now I know a cup of coffee is nothing. But I feel bullied. I don’t owe him one, he wasn’t jokingly asking me for it and it wasn’t a request either. It was an order. He would dare not do that with any Taiwanese customers of the supermarket. He saw, I was alone and used that opportunity. I don’t want to complain, coz I don’t want him to lose his job over a stupid coffee. Worse, I don’t want to complain and have him keep his job. He drives the bus and if he brakes at the wrong time or drops me 50 metres off, it would be a pain, coz I usually have a kid along with 9 litres of milk and other stuff.
I feel like kicking myself for saying ‘next time’ when I could have said ‘wei shenme?’. Yes I can buy him coffee and that will be that. What if it isn’t?? Secondly should I ask him his preference, hot or cold??
Is it coz he is a bus driver that I feel this way?? I have thought about it and no. It is his tone and inappropriateness. Most of the city bus drivers on the routes I take are quite pally with me. I just never liked this shuttle guy.
Hubby says, I should make a complaint. And take a taxi from here on. I am in 2 minds about complaining and why should I pay 300 NTD (both ways) when there is a free service? (saving the pennies)
[quote=“divea”]I feel like kicking myself for saying ‘next time’ when I could have said ‘wei shenme?’. Yes I can buy him coffee and that will be that. What if it isn’t?? Secondly should I ask him his preference, hot or cold?? Is it because he is a bus driver that I feel this way?? I have thought about it and no. It is his tone and inappropriateness. Most of the city bus drivers on the routes I take are quite pally with me. I just never liked this shuttle guy. Hubby says, I should make a complaint. And take a taxi from here on. I am in 2 minds about complaining and why should I pay 300 NTD (both ways) when there is a free service? (saving the pennies)
Any and all advice appreciated. Thanks.[/quote]
Buy him coffee and laxatives thrown in. You should complain in writing to to the bus company
I would file a formal complaint with both the company management and the City Gov’t hotline, 1999, and insist that the driver be removed. Don’t back down. If the driver is still there a week later, get back on the hotline and demand action. Temporarily avoid the shuttle bus until you can determine that the driver is gone. That jerk doesn’t deserve the job. You’ll be doing everyone a favor by helping get rid of him.
Or you could make sure Bubba2guns is riding with you when you hand the driver the coffee, with extra salt in it. Lots of salt.
That’s a bit weird. I would complain to the supermarket and not just ignore it. If your Chinese is not very good get a Chinese speaking person to go along with you and make sure the complaint is understood. Don’t respond to the driver in any way, pointedly ignore him. If he hassles you in any way, complain again and more vociferously, personally I’d be ripping up the store, your average Taiwanese person would be doing that or worse fwiw, you wouldn’t be seeing much in the way of oriental non-confrontationalism i’d bet. Keep your cell phone handy and ready to call the cops etc.
Don’t buy that coffee. I think the ‘next time’ was as close to ‘fuck you and check my persona’ as you can get in Taiwan. Saying ‘why?’ starts a convo that you don’t want to have. If he asks again then I would complain.
This wouldn’t be for the Carrefour near the Zhishan MRT station, would it? A couple of years ago a shuttle-bus driver for that store gave me and my wife a hard time because we got on without Carrefour bags. He accused us of trying to get an undeserved free ride.
After we explained, truthfully, that we’d just bought a refrigerator in the store and were having it delivered, he became friendly – at least to us. He had some distinctly unpleasant things to say about others, though, such as someone who wanted him to wait for another minute for her husband to arrive. (IIRC, the bus did not wait. This was a driver with a mission.)
