Happy New Year♥!　9

【A message for golf and baseball lovers!】

Act 23 [Taxi Driver 2]After that, Ken went to the Automobile Hall and took a course on the geography of Kyoto.

He passed the final exam and got his taxi driver's license, and finally he was able to drive a taxi.

The cost of the course and exam, as well as the time spent learning, were paid for by the hour.

The company strictly prohibits power harassment and sexual harassment, and there is no hierarchical relationship, which I was worried about, and everyone greets the new 65-year-old casually.

The atmosphere is very good, and at the previous metal factory, I was forced to buy my own work clothes and safety shoes, but here they provide me with a uniform.

Finally, from today, I will actually be driving a taxi and picking up customers.

A senior driver got in the passenger seat and started.

As I was driving the taxi with the exploration navigation, the bell rang.

It counted down 10, 9, 8. I immediately tapped the screen.

A comment appeared saying that the dispatch was completed, so I pressed the pick-up button and confirmed the dispatch information.

Confirm the pick-up location and drop-off location, and the customer information will be displayed.

The name of a woman in her 20s was displayed.

The pick-up point was Joyo Station rotary, and the drop-off point was 〇〇 Hospital I followed the navigation system to go and pick up the customer.

When I got close, I pressed the arrival button to welcome the customer.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. This is the GO crew. May I ask your name?"

If there was no mistake, the sliding door was opened and the customer got on.

"Thank you for boarding."

"The doors are closing, please watch your step.

Please fasten your seat belt."

I checked behind me and slowly departed, then pressed the actual vehicle button.

"Is your destination XX Hospital correct?"

As I got closer to the destination, I was about to arrive.

I confirmed the drop-off location by saying this.

"Is it okay if I drop you off in front of the entrance?"

After the bus stopped, I pressed the payment button, the total button, and the settlement button in order, and when the payment completion screen appeared, the door was opened and the customer got off.

"Thank you for riding with us. We look forward to seeing you again."

"Please be careful on your way."

I press the empty car button.

In this way, there is no cash payment and no change is given or received.

After riding with us for about three days, I finally made my solo debut.

"I wonder if it's okay~ Well, I'm sure it'll work out."

However, the only problem is that there are many foreign customers due to inbound tourism in Kyoto city.

The landing point is not specified, but is indicated by street names unique to Kyoto.

The biggest challenge is the accuracy of GO's navigation system is spotty.

A senior driver said.

"You should never trust this navigation system!"

It would be fine if it showed names like ◯◯ Hotel, but it only showed addresses.

I enlarged the map to determine the hotel, station, etc.

I managed to make my solo debut without any problems.

On the second day of my debut, a woman who got on at Gojo Post Office said.

"Please enter Teramachi from Kawaramachi."

"Yes, Teramachi, understood...."

"Oh, driver, this is it!" "Oh, sorry."

I was in a state of panic inside my head.

The next place I could turn left was Takatsuji-dori.

"Please turn right at the next Teramachi."

Teramachi-dori is a one-way street to the right, and the cluttered streets are filled with signs, so I missed the no right turns sign.

When I turned right, a young police officer was waiting for me.

"No right turns allowed here, please get off and show me your license."

"Oh, sorry. It's my fault!"

"No, I'm sorry for causing you trouble because of my mistake."

The young officer said mercilessly.

"Would you like to drop off the customer and come back here, or shall I deal with it now?"

"I'm getting off here. It's not that far to walk!"

"I'm really sorry. I settle the bill and see the customer off. I call the company and report the violation. I see that there are more and more violations and the police officers can't keep up, so they run after the violators, leaving me alone. When the police officer comes back, he writes a ticket and my day's part-time wages are gone. I can't help it with the part-time wages, but my gold license, which has been accident-free and violation-free for several years, will turn blue next time.

"They're just doing an analogue crackdown! There aren't enough police officers, and the female police officer is just standing there, not doing any work!"

"Why don't you just tell the driver who has his turn signal on before the intersection?"

"You can't turn right here!"

"Do you really want a fine?"

There are no perks to having a gold license.

"If you can get away with it once, it's worth gold, but if it just makes your insurance cheaper, there's no need for gold!" The young police officer's bad breath was unbearable. He was depressed, but he continued working, and when he returned to the office, he was checked on a dashcam and made to write a violation report."This won't do!"

There are too many risks for taxi drivers to violate rules and get into accidents.

Ken went home and typed in all the street names and intersections in Kyoto on his computer.

He's good at this, so he saved it in his smartphone's memo pad.

For example, in the case of Karasuma Kamichojamachi He typed in (karakami) or (kamikara) in hiragana, and compiled it so that when you search, the coordinates of the intersection will appear instantly.

If you copy the coordinate numbers and paste them into Google Navigation, the location will be displayed, and then you just press start navigation.

He made data on over 1,500 major intersections in Kyoto.

Since Kyoto place names have unique pronunciations, he also typed in all the town names in the city.

For example, Furoyacho, Kamigyo Ward (Furoka), Gioncho, Shimogyo Ward (Gioshi) You can also copy and paste and then just enter the address to get to the location.

He typed in all the famous hotels, stations, temples, department stores, museums, etc.

I think I made something good.

"This is going to sell!"

There are hundreds of taxi drivers in Kyoto.

Veteran drivers have the map of Kyoto memorized in their heads, but new drivers can't.

"A customer wants to take me to Muromachi Takoyakushi." "Muromachi Takoyakushi, right! Understood."

When waiting at a traffic light, you can search for

"Murotako"

and get instant navigation guidance, so it's a reliable and excellent product.

Ken also translated all the terms in the GO manual and memorized them in English.

When you look at the dispatch information, foreign customers are given a three-digit number instead of a name.

"Hello, welcome to Kyoto."

"Sorry to keep you waiting for so long."

"Please tell me your reservation number."

"OK! Thank you for using our service."

"Please get in!"

"The door closing, watch your step."

"Safety belt please!"

"I will send you to your destination!"

"This navigation course OK? Thank you!"

"We're almost there."

"Is this alright! Two-stop around here?"

"Thank you so much! Have a good day!"

That's how it goes.

Foreign customers also get on the bus happily when you talk to them.

When they look bored or look at the scenery in the back seat, Ken checks their condition and tries to talk to them as much as possible.

It seems like it's a good idea to start with a conversation about the weather, which is common all over the world.

"The weather is nice today."

Most foreign customers say

"Oh yeah! Sure! Lucky!"

So I'm studying English.

I ask if I can talk.

"I'm studying English, right now! Woo hoo mind talking to me?" "Sure! Of course!"

From there, I ask,

"Is this your first time in Japan? Where have you been in Kyoto? Where else are you going besides Kyoto? How many days are you staying? We start off with ordinary conversation,

"Have you eaten any Japanese delicious food?"

The answer I get is

"Sushi, ramen, udon, soba, shabu shabu, wagyu beef."

The conversation flows and the 30 minutes on the way to Kinkakuji and Arashiyama feels short.

When passengers get off, they say thank you in Japanese, ask your name, and sometimes even shake hands.

When you say goodbye, an electronic sound sometimes goes off and the navigation system says that you have been awarded a bonus tip.

As expected, America and other countries are tipping societies. Tipping is almost unheard of in Japan, so I wasn't expecting much, but it was nice to get points worth up to 900 yen.

Apparently these point tips can be earned by individuals.

Once you have enough, you can exchange them for cash and have them deposited in your account.

But what's even better is being able to communicate with foreign passengers.

If you can't hear what they're saying, if you say

"I speak a little English,"

most passengers will praise you, saying

"No, no, your English is very well!"

On a different note, I often see incidents where people say,

"Recent incidents made me hate living. I want to kill someone, anyone would be fine."

"If you want to die, don't drag innocent children into it, just die alone!"

"If you don't have the courage to die, just work and live as if you were going to die!"

Just imagining the feelings of the family left behind when their family, who had been living a normal life until then, suddenly disappears, makes me think that if that happened to me, I would go crazy and not be able to live.

A single life is precious.

The rampage of an ordinary individual results in only a few casualties, but the rampage and dictatorship of a country's leader can cause thousands or tens of thousands of casualties with missiles. Where on earth is humanity headed? What do they want, and to what extent? Am I the only one who thinks that the current natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and forest fires are the Earth's anger at the destruction caused by hydrogen bomb tests and missiles?



Act 24 [Accident]Ken has been a taxi driver for three years and is now free from his restrictions.

The fifth year of autumn begins as usual, or rather, morning comes and he arrives at the office before 8:00.

"Good morning."

He stamps his time card, gets ready for the trip and cleans the vehicle lightly.

Everyone leaves in order at 8:15.

The operations manager said before the departure.

Recently, there have been more and more foreigners driving besides foreign customers, so please drive carefully.

I agree. Apparently, the number of foreigners lining up at driver's license testing centers is increasing rapidly.

It seems that Japanese driving skills are high and it is easy to get an international license that can be used anywhere in the world.

Moreover, while Japanese drivers are given strict questions such as trick questions, foreigners can pass the practical test by getting 13 or 4 correct out of 20 questions.

Especially since he came all the way from China to get his license and has to wait four months, Ken took his usual route from Uji to Fushimi and entered Kyoto city.

(Tiririn♪)

The bell rings and Ken presses the button.

The dispatch navigation system is set up.

The pick-up point is Chishakuin Kaikan Hotel, and the navigation system shows the alley behind the hotel.

This navigation system is really troublesome. I've gone to pick up a customer as the navigation system says and pressed the "arrived"

button, but no matter how long I wait, the customer never shows up.

The customer calls and says,

"I can't find my car. I'm at the hotel entrance, where are we?" "What's with this navigation system? It's completely useless."

This has happened dozens of times, with the customer recommending a different location and canceling the call.

The Okura Hotel, the Westin Kyoto Miyako Hotel, Arashiyama, etc., and there has been no improvement at all.

Ken has failed before, so he goes to the hotel entrance without hesitation, and the customer raises their hand.

"That's right."

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

The customers are a group of four ladies who are sightseeing in Kyoto, and the one in the passenger seat who is a nice person talks to me.

"I went to Nishiki Market, and there were so many people there, as well as Kiyomizu-dera and Arashiyama, but the autumn leaves were really beautiful."

"Where are you from?"

"From Gifu."

"I'm glad the weather was nice."

"Really, these two days were great, and the food was delicious too, so I'm glad I came."

I took him to Kyoto Station.

Today was off to a good start with a nice customer.

As soon as I left the car empty, the bell rang.

I looked at the dispatch information and saw that it was a triple-digit number, a foreign customer.

When I got to the pick-up point, there were three customers who looked to be Westerners.

The drop-off point is Fushimi Inari Taisha, and the point the navigation system shows is the government land of Fushimi Inari Taisha, right in the middle of the Senbon Torii gates.

"You can't drive a car in a place like this."

"Hello, welcome to Kyoto."

"It's nice weather, today."

"Oh yes, lucky."

When we got to know each other, he asked,

"Can you speak English?"

"Little."

I've gotten used to it now.

There are so many people and cars at Fushimi Inari Taisha that cars can't go all the way to the back.

When I asked if I could stop in front, he said,

"OK! No problems."

I was happy to hear this reply.

As expected, there were a lot of tourists around Fushimi Inari Taisha.

I pushed my way through the crowd without honking the horn. Everyone was walking in the middle of the road as if it was a pedestrian paradise.

When foreigners who had rented kimonos and hakama from a kimono rental shop were walking around making peace signs, it looked like a costume parade.

I stopped in front of the large torii gate, had them get off, and said, "Have a good day, take care, and go well!"

I greeted them at the door and saw them off.

If you don't do this, customers may hit pedestrians with the door if you open it manually, so you need to be careful.

It's good for both parties to be able to see customers off in a good mood.

After a while, I received tip points again

(plonk♪).

(Thank you as always♪)

After that, I took them to Arashiyama and Kinkakuji Temple, and just when I thought that the next one would be the last one, the bell rang.

Just then, the right-turn signal showed a green arrow.

When I turned right, an oncoming car going straight, which should have been a red light, came rushing in at high speed.

"Ah, it's dangerous!"

At that moment, I saw a flash of light and a dull sound.

(Crash!)

(Pi~po~Pi~po~Uuuuu...)

I could faintly hear the sound of an ambulance siren in the distance.

I heard someone calling,

"...-chan, Grandpa."

"Grandpa"

I woke up and opened my eyes to see the vague faces of Hapi and Moni.

"What happened? Why is everyone here?"

"Ouch, I can't breathe."

"Grandpa, are you okay?"

"Dad was taken away in an ambulance."

"Really?"

Natsu and Tomomi, Hapi, now a high school student, and Moni, a middle school student, had come to visit.

I had broken ribs. I'd also hit my head a little and bruised my leg.

"A Chinese driver ran into us at a red light."

"Who was the other driver?"

"He seems fine, he was injured and taken to another room." (Knock knock♪)

(Yes.)

(Dad, the police and the taxi company came.)

"Oh, sorry."

"I'm glad you're fine, Ayu-san."

"I checked the dashcam and it was totally their fault. The left door of our car was totally destroyed."

"Do you think we can get it repaired?"

"Don't worry. They should be able to get it repaired with their rental car company's insurance!"

"Apparently the airbag deployed, but the impact was too big and he broke two ribs."

"I'm glad we didn't have a customer in the car."

"That's true."

Anyway, we had no choice but to take it easy until he healed.

"Are you crying, Moni?"

"But it looks like you're in pain, poor old man."

"Sorry for worrying you."

Hapi and Moni hugged me.

"Ouch, that hurts"

"Sorry"

"You won't be able to play golf for a while"

"Of course!"