Some people actually get the hint

One of the things about Korea is that if Koreans know who you are they are the most polite folks in the world. If they don't know you..well...you're fucked. However, every now and then, people here get the hint.

I came out of Santa Claus tonight and there were no taxis. This is not THAT unusual on a Friday night. You have to wait a bit but sooner or later a cab shows up.

When I came out of , there were two foreign women , a Korean couple, and myself in line for cabs. The foreigners got a cab and left the rest of us waiting. In typical fashion, a large group of Korean guys came up and proceeded to try and waylay the first cab that came along. There are two things going on tonight that are mitigating factors in what happened next: a) I'm drunk as stink, b) I have a sense of fairness that I think surprised the group I confronted.

First cab that came along, these guys tried to get it. Me, I yelled at them and said, "HEY! These two are first, I'm second, YOU are third!" Needless to say, the Korean couple ahead of me was a bit stunned that I got them a cab, but, kudos to them, they didn't hesitate a second when I said go. The other guys, one of which made a feeble attempt to get in my face, walked up the street in order to head off the first cabs that came along.

The cool thing that happened is that the guys went up the block, found the first cab, and sent it to pick me up. They cheered asI went by. You have to understand Korean culture to understand how cool this was. The real winner was the cab driver. The ride from Santa's to my house is NOT a cabbies dream. They make no money on these runs. I tipped the guy double the fare simply because te other Korean guys that I had yelled at did the right thing.