Making An Offer No One Could Refuse
Around fifteen years ago, I am traveling around India with a friend of mine from graduate school. He is Japanese and I’m a white male from the US. It is the last call at the bar, and it is time to head back to our hotel. We summon a taxi and are on our way.
I am a little nervous because the ride is taking longer than I anticipated; something about the driver seems shady. My suspicions are confirmed when, halfway through the trip, the driver asks if we want to meet some girls.
Prostitution is not a slap-on-the-wrist crime in India. But since we are foreigners staying at a very fancy hotel — the kind with security out front — he knows we have money. Also, at the time, Japanese tourists have a reputation for being inexperienced travelers and for not being able to hold their liquor.
I tell the driver no thanks. The driver won’t take a no from me as a final answer, so he directs his question to my friend, who just laughs. The driver asks him again.
Friend: “What?”
He looks confused.
Me: “[Friend], say no.”
Driver: *Loudly* “Do you want to meet girls?”
Friend: “I don’t understand!”
Me: “[Friend], say no!”
Driver: *Yelling* “Do. You. Want. To. F***. Some. B****es?”
There is a pause.
Friend: “Ohhhhhh! No, thanks!”
He laughs.
The rest of the very circuitous trip is spent in silence. I am on edge, but my friend just seems drunk.
When we get to the hotel, the driver announces the price, which is at least twice what it should be. I am about to go ballistic on the driver when my friend holds up one finger, indicating for me to stop, and speaks, dead sober and with a smile on his face.
Friend: “You have a choice. You can either take [two-thirds of what the fare should be] and go away, or I’m going to go speak to the police officers over there by the front door, and I will tell them exactly what you offered us.”
The driver took what my friend offered.
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Have you ever served a bad customer who got what they deserved?
