He took me for a ride
By Jim Thompson
HCP columnist
Author’s note: While the politicians, of both parties, are spending this special time – lame-duck season – on all sorts of nonsense, I thought I would take a break, starting with my last column (“Down the road”) and recall some interesting experiences from the past. Don’t worry, I will be back to politics soon.
In the late 1990s, I was invited to Warsaw, Poland to give a speech on my favorite topic, pulp and paper. Now, this was just a few years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, so matters in countries behind the former Iron Curtain were still a bit wild.
I made appropriate inquiries among colleagues who had been there as to what the watchouts were. In particular, I was told to watch out for the taxi drivers, they were all run by the Mafia.
I got off the plane, collected my luggage and went to the taxi stand. A very courteous man in a nearly new Mercedes was at my service. I told him the name of the hotel I wanted to go to and ask what the fare would be. Everything matched up.
He took me to a hotel with the proper name just outside the airport fence. I expressed surprise that it was so close. He smiled and told me he was happy to be of service. I went inside, gave them my name, checked in and went to my room.
I was very surprised no one else from our conference had showed up yet and that there were no placards in the lobby announcing the conference. Time passed and I started to get concerned. We were supposed to be at a banquet that night. I finally called another colleague from the States (which was no mean feat – telephones in those days were not as connectivity friendly as they are today).
I was at the right hotel by name, but the wrong location. I was supposed to be in their property in the center of the city. The taxi driver did indeed rip me off. I threw my things in my suitcase, caught another taxi and headed downtown.
Traffic was terrible – nothing had been done to the streets since the days of the Iron Curtain. I barely made it in time to get to the banquet.
As I went to bed later that evening, my room was freezing – probably about 45 degrees. I went down to the lobby and ask about the heat. The person behind the desk told me the heat would not be turned on until Oct. 15 (it was about the 8th). The hotel was on the central district heating systems (we used to have those in the United States – that is the reason a city like Dayton’s system was called “Dayton Power & Light” – “power” was steam the company distributed throughout the city).
So, I resorted to a procedure we used to use on the McNary Farm when I was a boy. I piled every bit of clothing I had with me, including my coat, on top of the bed as extra covers.
But how to shower in the morning? I turned on the shower to its hottest level and closed the door, leaving the bathroom to heat up with the hot water from the shower. That worked.
Yet, there is another “but.” In my haste the night before, I had left my shaving kit in the first hotel. I went out in the city looking for such items – nowhere to be found. So, the keynote speaker delivered his speech unshaven. In the afternoon, I took a taxi back to the first hotel, retrieved my shaving kit, and then another taxi back to the conference hotel.
If you are keeping track, I had now spent four taxi fares and hadn’t yet left Warsaw. Glad to help the economy.
Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press.