I have mad respect for taxi drivers in Asia. You ask them to drive to a destination and they will mostly deliver without fail. Consider a city like Shanghai, where driving from one end of the city to another may take an hour even without traffic, knowing all the street names is already a feat of its own. Once a Shanghainese taxi driver told me about the sort of examinations required for a taxi license, I can only hope that should I ever be back in school, one of these folks won’t be in the same class as me.
Then we have the GPS. Nowadays, I can visit a completely foreign town, and navigate through it with ease so long as there is reception, and in a country where mapping data is available. It also flattens the barrier of entry of taxi driving, now anyone who can operate a car and GPS can become a taxi driver.
It is not just the GPS. These days, we have all the technology at our disposable to make life much more effortless. I can only imagine innovation being easier when our brain power is not bothered with remembering all of our friends’ phone number and addresses.
The photo is of a taxi ride in my hometown Kaohsiung. I realize this Photo a Day initiative has been more an exercise of daily rambling. Each day, I think about what I feel like writing about, then find a photo that suits it. Or in this case, take a new photo to go with the post.
It makes me wonder which aspect is more important. An Israeli poet/photographer Gilad Benari had the same dilemma. He started as a poet, and in each poem, he took a photograph to pair with the writing. Some time in, he discovered that people were more receptive to his photos than his poems. I forgot how he resolved the identity crisis, but he kept this mode of operation and has been continuously producing stunning work. I guess I will keep moving in this direction and see where it takes me.
One week in and this post is late for my timezone.