Effect on locals

Wow, you seem awfully angry for someone packing for his 23rd visit to paradise. We have been visiting for almost the same time and have come to know many taxi drivers very well. They all work a second job in order to support their families and they all say that the fare is the same for residents and tourists. None of them would resort to bank robbery, drug sales or street robbery to supplement their inadequate income. Your remark about throwing away the envelope of glasses strikes me as a childish remark a temper tantrum throwing 4 year old would make and must embarrass you in retrospect and the sarcastic reference to Lupita totally uncalled for. She has no dog in this race and doesn't deserve your mean spirited comment.

Exactly! Most taxi drivers are decent folks who often hold 2 or 3 jobs. I try to help as many folks as I can and many of them have been my friends for decades. Some I even used to work with back in the old Sheraton hotel. Some used to run errands for Lupita and me as youngsters. Others were students of mine.

I love the folks in my community, and I feel like we are all family. Not like in the USA where too many city folks (and even some small town folks) tend to see everyone as adversaries. Here if we aren't actually related by blood we're often related in other ways that matter to us, sometimes even including a gringo like me. Imagine that!

There was recently an indescribably horrific incident involving a group of narco punk thugs and a taxi driver that still has the entire local community extremely upset. While we may criticize rate hikes and overcharging and blocking vehicles by the taxi unions, the drivers are part of our community and we care very much for them. Criticizing someone's behaviour or actions doesn't mean we are enemies, just like it shouldn't here when folks disagree.