March 2, 2013

• On Overcoming a Fear of Taxis

  Once upon a time, in the not too distant past, I was terrified of using taxis on my own. I was perfectly happy to use them in the company of other people because then they took the control. I was completely unhappy to use them on my own because then I had to take the control. My fear revolved around a multitude of unanswered questions…

  …. if I get one from a taxi rank, which one do I go to?

  …. what if they don’t see me approaching, do I just get in or do I knock on the window to get their attention?

  …. what if they don’t know the place I want them to take me?

  …. is it acceptable to get in the front or do I have to get in the back?

  …. if I am in one of the black taxis with a screen between the back and the drivers seat do I pay through there or should I get out and pay?

  …. should I tip?

  …. is it compulsory to make conversation?

   

  The fear surrounding these questions was only heightened by the time that my mother once phoned for a taxi to take me home when it was dark and late…

  ….Everything was going well until we reached my road (which was (it actually still is, but I don’t live there anymore) one of the most confusing roads ever to exist)… the driver did not know where my house was and just drove on past the turning then after a little while asked me to tell him when to stop. Instead of saying ‘actually it was back there’ or even better, notifying him right after he had driven past it, I just said ‘ummm…. its just about here!’. So he dropped me off and then proceeded not to drive off. So I had to walk all the way back down the road the way we had come for several minutes in full view of him and thus looked like a very foolish woman.

  I then vowed never to take a taxi on my own again.

  Unfortunately I then decided to be a Play Therapist. In order to do this, I had to go several times to a university campus in Kent. This involved getting a train to a place called Tonbridge and then making my way to the campus which was over an hours walk. I therefore had no option but to get a taxi. I was terrified. My husband kindly researched where I should go for the taxi rank and also found numbers for taxi companies should I not find one.

  On arriving at the station, I followed his directions and found a line of taxis. I approached the first taxi in the line with my heart beating in my head. I rehearsed my options for if the driver did not notice me. He noticed me. I got in. I asked him to take me to the campus. He said ‘OK’. And off we went. We had a brief chat along the way. When we got there he told me how much it was and I paid him. He gave me change. I got out. And that was it.

  I did this several times, each time becoming increasingly confident.

  I then got a placement in a nearby town where I again needed to get a taxi from the station. Every single Monday I come out of the station and get myself a taxi. I have now been doing this for several months. A few weeks ago the driver put my bag in the back of the car and before I had even said the place that I wanted to go he said ‘its ________ school, isn’t it?’. This week, I said where I wanted to go and the driver said ‘ah yes, the lady with the bag of toys’.

  I am now a Regular Taxi User.

   

  • 10:29 am
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