I had a really long chat with a cabby while taking a cab from home to NTU, which costs way too much. Now I enjoy conversation, but you really wonder what you could possibly talk about with a 50ish uncle.
Quite a bit, it turns out. Especially since I was in the cab for a whole 40 minutes. 40 minutes of awkward silence is really hard. Especially if you're sitting in the front seat. After awhile, your neck gets really tired trying to look left away from the guy, and it's really not much fun playing with your phone when there's nothing on it. It's better to get some conversation going.
After a while, the first question from the uncle will always be about what I'm studying. So I'll tell the uncle I study Communications. If he goes "HAR?", I'll quickly change it to say "Oh I study electrical engineering."
Once, after doing that I actually got into a discussion about electrical wiring and circuit boards. Turns out the cabby was a former electrician. I marvel at how I kept the conversation going. But at least, nobody goes "Har?" when I mention I study electrical engineering. The only exception was one cabby who told me that electrical engineering was a bad course to study because it had bad career prospects. You guessed it. It was the former electrician.
Next the cabby will inevitably ask "When are you going to serve NS?" Nobody ever asks me where I served. They always assume I haven't gone through it, which is really quite insulting. I know I don't look like a rugged soldier ready to defend Singapore, but more like one waiting to get my arse whacked. But I'm in university now. Could they at least accord me the correct status based on my age? Bah.
As the conversation dithers on, the cabby will talk about his kids. Most cabbies have quite a few kids, but, if the cabby has a daughter around my age, the conversation starts to focus on her. Somehow, I don't know why but it happens. And just in case you were wondering, it's not me okay.
AND if she happens to be studying in NTU, that's it man. The conversation is not going anywhere else. He will actually tell me what course and which year she's studying in, and once, one of them even told me her name and how she looked like. I guess it's because I make such great conversation he's thinking of making me family already. Whoa thanks but no thanks man. Like how am I going to chat your daughter up?
"Hey... Now I know who to look for when I need a free taxi ride."
Um sorry but no. I'd sooner take the bus or MRT. And if push comes to shove, I'd buy a bicycle first.
I'm guess I'm really lucky that this is Singapore and cab rides don't last very long.