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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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 Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 1:54 pm Post subject: |
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| yodanole wrote: |
No comment on the "smelly foreigners", but crossing the street to get the proper taxi is a long established arrangement in Korea and poses no undue hardship. Unlike Koreans, I haven't always been aware of which taxi stand is for which destinations, but if I knew I would go where I was supposed to in the first place.
I've never had this problem except late at night, when a taxi driver might have had plans to finish their shift and go home. So the taxi driver explains about the taxi stop and I cross the street. It's easier for me to cross the street than it is for the taxi driver be be a long way from home. |
Yeah, obviously the guy should be fined for refusing the foreigners.
On the other hand, the other cab driver who refused someone for being on the wrong side of the road didn't really do anything wrong. I mean, he was basically acting in the best interests of both him and the passengers. |
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dairyairy
Joined: 17 May 2012
Location: South Korea
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| Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 4:14 pm Post subject: |
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| Many taxi drivers have a slight odor, too. |
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orosee
Joined: 07 Mar 2008
Location: Hannam-dong, Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 4:16 pm Post subject: |
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Would that have been news if a taxi driver had refused a Korean salaryman after Midnight for the reason, say, that he was covered in vomit or looked like he was about to vomit?
While this is not a nice event for anyone (as a passenger), "that smell" can be incredibly strong and I've seen an entire transfer queue at HK airport clear out because of a mere half dozen (well dressed) travellers from Far South of the Mediterranean. |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 4:54 pm Post subject: |
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| cdninkorea wrote: |
| What idiocy. Taxi drivers should be allowed to refuse passengers for any reason they like. What use is private property without the right to use it as one sees fit? |
Taxis are private property? Since when? Only in the case of independent drivers and then they still have to get a license from the local government which has certain conditions attached to it. |
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cdninkorea
Joined: 27 Jan 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 9:12 pm Post subject: |
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| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
| Taxis are private property? Since when? Only in the case of independent drivers and then they still have to get a license from the local government which has certain conditions attached to it. |
Fundamentally there are two types of ownership: public (e.g. national parks) and private (e.g. restaurants). Taxis fall under the latter category. There should be no conditions attached to being a taxi driver other than those that constitute a direct harm on others, like drunk driving, fraud, etc. |
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Mr. BlackCat
Joined: 30 Nov 2005
Location: Insert witty remark HERE
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| Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 9:56 pm Post subject: |
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| cdninkorea wrote: |
| What idiocy. Taxi drivers should be allowed to refuse passengers for any reason they like. What use is private property without the right to use it as one sees fit? |
As others have asked, should restaurants be allowed to refuse service to individuals based on their skin color? Should stores bar those who have different religious beliefs? Maybe we should just go back to 1950s Alabama. Everyone was happier and freer then, right?
As for the other side of the road thing, too bad. If I'm willing to pay, you do your job. Often no cabs are coming the opposite way or there are too many others also waiting there. Seoul isn't alone in this. Most major cities have similar laws, including NY. There are reasons for this. |
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Chalmers
Joined: 20 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 10:00 pm Post subject: |
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| Does this mean I can sue the anma that didn't let me in on Friday night? |
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fermentation
Joined: 22 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 11:10 pm Post subject: |
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| I think we're missing one valuable piece of information. What if the people in question really did smell bad? I have encountered people on the subway who quite literally smelled like fecal matter or urine. It's possible this guy genuinely did not like the smell. |
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Nismo
Joined: 31 Aug 2005
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| Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 11:46 pm Post subject: |
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| cdninkorea wrote: |
| What idiocy. Taxi drivers should be allowed to refuse passengers for any reason they like. What use is private property without the right to use it as one sees fit? |
Their fuel is subsidized by the government. They don't have the right to refuse passengers because our taxes are partially subsidizing their business (and I like it that way). |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 12:25 am Post subject: |
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| Mr. BlackCat wrote: |
As for the other side of the road thing, too bad. If I'm willing to pay, you do your job. Often no cabs are coming the opposite way or there are too many others also waiting there. Seoul isn't alone in this. Most major cities have similar laws, including NY. There are reasons for this. |
I think it depends if there is an obvious Taxi queue on the other side of the road or not (like at a bus station or busy street). If its in a high-taxi zone, then it makes sense. If that guy is the only taxi around and he's just being lazy and telling them to go to the other side, then obviously he deserves the fine. If the customer insists, then he should still take them of course.
The other thing to remember though is that if he takes off one way then has to loop around or something, the person might accuse the guy of trying to defraud them and run up the rate and then the guy gets fined. Maybe he had that situation happen in the past where he took a fare going the "wrong way" and had to loop around and then got screamed at.
Just saying, that kind of situation might not be so black and white.
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| Their fuel is subsidized by the government. They don't have the right to refuse passengers because our taxes are partially subsidizing their business (and I like it that way). |
Absolutely. Unless the person is violent or visibly intoxicated and is liable to damage the property or present a danger to the driver, then there is no reason to refuse. And I highly doubt a woman from Saudi Arabia with her family is going to be stumbling drunk. |
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cdninkorea
Joined: 27 Jan 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 4:46 am Post subject: |
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| Mr. BlackCat wrote: |
| As others have asked, should restaurants be allowed to refuse service to individuals based on their skin color? Should stores bar those who have different religious beliefs? Maybe we should just go back to 1950s Alabama. Everyone was happier and freer then, right? |
Regarding the first and second questions, yes. It's ironic that you cite 1950s Alabama as a supposed example of what I'm talking about, when Jim Crow laws were the result of government legislation forcing businesses to discriminate, not private businesses exercising their liberty (and in fact, many private trolley owners opposed Jim Crow laws because they didn't want to lose black customers).
In a fully free society, some people will discriminate unfairly, and they do so at their peril, i.e. it will be their loss. However, rational businesspeople will not.
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| Their fuel is subsidized by the government. They don't have the right to refuse passengers because our taxes are partially subsidizing their business (and I like it that way). |
I suppose you think being overweight should be illegal, since they're much more likely to cost publicly-funded medical care more money? No, your argument is a great reason to get rid of subsidies, not to continue a subsidizing-and-controlling a private business. |
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dairyairy
Joined: 17 May 2012
Location: South Korea
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| Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 4:47 pm Post subject: |
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Sorry, couldn't help it.
Smelly foreigners, oh smelly foreigners, what are they feeding you?
It's not your fault. |
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sml7285
Joined: 26 Apr 2012
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| Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 5:21 pm Post subject: |
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| dairyairy wrote: |
Sorry, couldn't help it.
Smelly foreigners, oh smelly foreigners, what are they feeding you?
It's not your fault. |
Thanks... now I'm going to have to download all ten seasons and waste another few months of my life re-watching the show. |
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madoka
Joined: 27 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 5:45 pm Post subject: |
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| fermentation wrote: |
| I think we're missing one valuable piece of information. What if the people in question really did smell bad? I have encountered people on the subway who quite literally smelled like fecal matter or urine. It's possible this guy genuinely did not like the smell. |
In middle school, I had a obese Middle Eastern friend with a VERY strong musky odor. I could often smell him around the corner. Whenever I talked to him, I would keep moving so that I was never downwind of him.
In no way am I exaggerating here and I say this as one of the only friends he had at the school. On hot days when he would sweat, some of the girls that sat next to him would have to leave for the nurse's office due to nausea and be sent home. Groups of them. I was assigned a seat diagonally away from him in the other side of the class and there were times I wanted to retch as well. I don't know how those girls lasted as long as they did. There were times I wanted to go home and rip my clothes off because they reeked of his stink. None of the teachers wanted to talk about the elephant in the room, but as fat as he was, he was excused from all PE classes so he wouldn't be sweating any more than necessary.
I've NEVER smelled any one so bad in my life. Not migrant day laborers, not super obese people, not the dirtiest homeless people imaginable. The only comparable smell is if you're within 5-10 feet of a skunk, but even then, I would prefer the skunk. A couple of years ago, I sat in the middle of 15-20 Indian farmers who all decided to take off their sandals on a Asiana flight for 15 hours and had no trouble. I've worked with homeless people. Even the stinkiest ones who were asked to fill out their forms outside were maybe 1/10th the funk of this guy.
Having been the smeller of a powerful, nauseating body odor for several of my school years, I certainly can sympathize with other victims. I don't think others can truly understand what it's like unless you've also experienced an overwhelming body odor.
I don't know what the people in question smelled like, but I can understand if they smelled as bad as my classmate. |
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ED209
Joined: 17 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 7:03 pm Post subject: |
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| cdninkorea wrote: |
| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
| Taxis are private property? Since when? Only in the case of independent drivers and then they still have to get a license from the local government which has certain conditions attached to it. |
Fundamentally there are two types of ownership: public (e.g. national parks) and private (e.g. restaurants). Taxis fall under the latter category. There should be no conditions attached to being a taxi driver other than those that constitute a direct harm on others, like drunk driving, fraud, etc. |
Then they should stop using public roads. |
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