Originally Posted by
BOShappyflyer
I don't get it. I'm not sure that it has anything to do with tipping.
Does it make you feel better really? Imagine the situation is reversed. You're first or second in line at a cab station (and you tip well in the first place; let's just assume). Suddenly, a cab appears and rather than picking you up (as expected being the first in line), he picked a foreigner that's third in line. I don't imagine you would be happy. That's why there's a line. That's why you're waiting there.
It's more or less a kind of 'profiling' that happened. In my mind, it has nothing to do with "proper use of taxi driver tip" because he does not know how you will tip in advance.
(By the way, I have seen two young ladies throwing a tantrum at the cab service rep manning the line in Ft Lauderdale (cruise) because they were in a hurry, and wanted to cut in line. The cab were able to keep them in their place for a while (explaining that others are waiting) though they were able to get their way, much to the disgust of other people who witnessed the episode.). Not your situation, clearly, but something I just remembered.
Hmm, clearly you don't "get it." You have a lot to learn about China, including the fact that "queues" are often more conceptual than actual. It's a dog-eat-dog world, especially trying to get a taxi, and if a break is thrown your way, you take it. I assure you the shoe has been on the other foot plenty of times, and I've been passed by in favor of the Chinese person waiting. That's just how things are here. And especially since the power shift in this Beijing taxi equation seems to have shifted over to the drivers during the last year. If the Chinese women passed over were of a mind to do so, they could have taken down his ID number from the dashboard display, or the license plate number, and complained to his company.
And yes, I felt better at the time getting into that cab, and I felt good when I got out of it too! I've got nothing to be ashamed of or apologize for, which is what you seem to be implying.
What would
you have done--refused the taxi and demanded he take the first Chinese woman in line? Tell me true....