Too Much Of A 'Good Thing'

The standard cost of throwing up in a taxi in Singapore is apparently twenty Singapore dollars.  This is the maximum a driver can charge his drunken passenger although they (the driver) also stand to lose about $30 of cab fares as they go about cleaning up their taxi.

According to a newspaper report in the Jakarta Post, ComfortDelGro, Singapore's biggest cab operator with a fleet of about 15,000 taxis, does not have a policy on compensation but offers its cabbies free cleanups at its workshops.

And before anyone jumps to a conclusion, it is not just the men of Singapore who have this habit of 'hurling' in cabs.  The same newspaper report gives the example of a 34 year old female professional who, after a night out drinking at Clarke Quay, threw up.

She is reported as saying " "I felt very bad seeing the taxi uncle's face fall after I threw up".  I bet you it did!

Surely the bigger question is why is it necessary to binge drink in the first place? There is nothing less edifying than a drunk and I am sure most cab drivers world wide would agree.

Meanwhile drivers such as Tan Pin Lin comes prepared for his shift with "10 plastic bags, boxes of tissue paper and a prayer that no one would puke in his cab after a night of partying."