My company sent me on my first business trip, and I was supposed to travel around the city intaxis. Having never ridden in a taxi before, I had problems from start to finish.
公司派我進(jìn)行商務(wù)旅行,我原本想乘出租車環(huán)城旅行。我從未做過(guò)出租車,從頭到尾我都有問(wèn)題。
First, I had trouble hailing a cab. I didn’t realize that when the taxi’s light is off that thecabbie is off duty. No wonder they took no notice of me.
叫出租車時(shí)我碰到了麻煩,我沒(méi)有意識(shí)到,出租車的燈已經(jīng)滅了,司機(jī)已經(jīng)下班了。難怪他們沒(méi)有注意到我。
Then, a cab did pull over and I told him where I wanted to go. He said, though, that hewouldn’t take me because he wouldn’t be able to get a return fare!
然后,有輛出租車開(kāi)到路邊,我告訴他我要去的地方,但是他說(shuō)他不想載我,因?yàn)樗嵅坏絹?lái)回的路費(fèi)。
I was looking around for a taxi stand when another cab pulled over, but my troubles didn’tstop there.
我四處尋找計(jì)程車停車場(chǎng),這時(shí)又有輛出租車開(kāi)過(guò)來(lái),我的麻煩并未就此停止。
Cabbie: Where to?
去哪兒?
Ignacio: I’d like to go the Hamilton Building downtown. There’s a flat rate, isn’t there?
我要去市中心的Hamilton Building。有統(tǒng)一的價(jià)格,對(duì)吧?
Cabbie: No, we don’t have flat rates.
沒(méi)有,我們沒(méi)有統(tǒng)一的價(jià)格。
Ignacio: But a flat rate to downtown is required by law, isn’t it?
但是去市中心的統(tǒng)一價(jià)格是受法律約束的,不是嗎?
Cabbie: Do you want to go downtown or not? I’ve already started the meter.
你到底想不想去市中心?我已經(jīng)打開(kāi)計(jì)算器了。
Ignacio: Where are your posted rates?
那你們約定的費(fèi)用是多少?
Cabbie: We don’t have any. The first mile is $3.50 and each quarter mile is $2.00.
我們沒(méi)有約定的,第一里是3.50美元,每0.25里2美元。
Ignacio: That doesn’t sound right to me. I think I’ll try another cab.
那聽(tīng)起來(lái)不適合我。我想我得找輛別的車。
Cabbie: Suit yourself!
隨便。
I remembered what my co-worker told me. She said to steer clear of private cabs, like thisone. The cabbies don’t have licenses and some of them will really take you for a ride – andnot the kind you want!
我記得同事告訴過(guò)我。她說(shuō)要避開(kāi)個(gè)體的黑車,比如剛才的那輛。司機(jī)沒(méi)有營(yíng)業(yè)執(zhí)照,有些人會(huì)欺騙你———那并不是你想找的司機(jī)。