Before we moved to Shanghai we were told that we weren’t allowed to drive here (something about Westerners being regular targets for car accidents as they are well insured). So how are we supposed to get around? We get a driver…
My first reaction was that we just didn’t need one. The metro network is great and the city is pretty walkable. I also don’t think I’m quite ready to be sitting in the back saying “Home Jeeves, and don’t spare the horses” or whatever people say to drivers nowadays. Some of the people I met when we came out for a visit in April seemed to be pretty dependent on their drivers -using them to get a lift virtually around the corner. Not for me.
Or so I thought.
We have a driver. I use him fairly frequently. So what caused the astonishingly rapid U turn?
Well, I met the driver and he is GREAT. If you are going to be driven around then you want someone who shows up on time, knows where he is going and won’t get you killed on the way. It turns out that these things cannot be taken for granted. The bonus is that our driver speaks enough English to ensure that you get to the right place but not so much that he understand a lot of conversations you might have on the phone/ back seat. In other words he’s perfect.
So the thing is we sometimes need a driver – the chap has to get to the office for a start, then there are all the trips to the airport, shopping in the supermarket etc – so we have to hang on to the perfect one we have. And to hang on to him we have to use him. In particular we need to use him evenings and weekends so he gets enough overtime not to drop us. That’s the danger you see – some drivers sack their clients if they don’t use them enough. So now I’m actually trying to think up trips that we might do and arranging to lend him to visitors.
Jeeves*: “Can you say U turn?”
* he’s not actually called Jeeves. Duh!