These days, motor taxi riders (called habal-habal drivers in the Philippines) are common in many parts of the world, particularly in Asia. In some places, these taxi riders wear a uniform to ensure that they are easily identifiable by those who are in need of a motorcycle rider to bring them to their destination.
In Thailand, motor taxi riders wear a bright orange vest with numbers at the back. But because the orange vest was actually similar to the ones used by construction workers, one student who was late for her class mistook a construction worker for a motor taxi rider.
Photo credit: World of Buzz
The student would later share her embarrassing experience on Twitter.
According to the student, she was getting late for school and still had to catch a ride at the pier. So, when she saw a guy wearing a bright orange vest riding a motorcycle, she flagged him down and immediately rode at the back of the vehicle, asking him to take her to the pier.
Photo credit: World of Buzz
Seeing that she was clearly in a hurry, the guy did not ask any more questions. He let her ride and went in the direction of the pier.
About halfway during the journey, the student was just looking around when she realized that the driver did not have a number on his vest. Also, he was wearing a white helmet that does not look like the standard motorcycle helmet worm by motor taxi drivers; instead, it looked more like a hardhat that construction workers use.
Photo credit: World of Buzz
“After sitting on the bike for a while, I thought it was odd that his helmet looks like that of a construction worker’s instead of a motorcyclist’s. In short, he was indeed a construction worker. Hahaha,” the student wrote.
Though embarrassed by her mistake and realizing she probably made this guy go out of his way just to bring her to the pier, the student apologized and asked him to stop so she could find a real motor taxi driver. But the construction worker was kind enough to bring her to the pier, anyway, knowing she was in a hurry.
Photo credit: World of Buzz
At the pier, she gave him the usual fare. He tried to refuse but she insisted, knowing she had taken much of his time; then, the embarrassed student ran all the way to the pier to catch the boat. Whew! Let’s hope she was able to reach the boat on time (and not make a mistake again).
Motor Taxi Versus Regular Taxi
A lot of commuters prefer using the motor taxi instead of the regular taxi because of cheaper fares and also because motorcycles aren’t likely to get stuck in heavy traffic compared with cars.