Day 8: Taxis in Amman

Today was too busy with meetings, deadlines, and inching through the terrible Amman traffic... I also had a somewhat typical exchange with a taxi driver. As I stood outside the Marriott after a meeting, deciding what to do, a young guy came up and asked in great English if I needed a taxi. I wasn't sure he was driving an official taxi because he wasn't in it and it was parked across the street, but he confirmed it was indeed a yellow official taxi. He said he'd just charge me 1 JD extra because of the traffic but wouldn't use his meter. This is a common trick amongst Amman taxi drivers who prefer to offer foreigners overpriced flat fares. I said, "but you're not a "hotel taxi" right?" as their base rate is 5JD when my expected fare with a meter was just over 1 JD. He said, right, and, tired and ready to get home, I agreed. On the way we had a great conversation about Jordan, Palestine, his experiences in Palestine and mine (something like 70% of Jordanians are Palestinian by origin and residency permit. Mentioning that we've lived in Palestine often starts a nice discussion and has even led to situations where I have to force the driver to take my money because we have such a nice bond!) By the time we arrived and I asked him "Adesh? (how much?)" he was ready to give me a discount. I offered him 2 and he said 3, down from 5--he was a hotel taxi after all!