Sometimes, being an outsider gives you license to be a little weird. It does not, however, give you license to be an idiot.
And yet, last week a trio of western tourists threw that rule – among other things – out the window, as they spent the afternoon of December 3 riding down District 1's Ton Duc Thang Street while hanging out the sides of a seven-seater Vinasun taxi, reports Tuoi Tre.
Because this wasn't classy enough, the male travelers also embarrassed their respective countries by drinking beer, smoking and generally carrying on as if it were happy hour on Bui Vien rather than a four-wheeled vehicle driving around Vietnam's largest metropolis. We can only hope their time spent perched on the vehicle's thin, unforgiving window frames was deeply uncomfortable.
Witnesses of the incident were less than impressed by the westerners' behavior, and within hours social media had registered locals' disapproval.
“It does not matter what kind of beverage they were drinking, as they did not drive the cab after all, but the act of hanging out of the windows is unacceptable,” said Vitalk.vn user wind_slash, according to Tuoi Tre. The netizen continued, posting to the online forum: “They were causing danger for themselves and passersby, and it is hard to understand why the taxi driver took no action.”
While it was generally agreed that the behavior of the foreign tourists was out of line, some social media users also held the cab driver responsible, saying it was his or her responsibility to step in and put a stop to the tourists' behavior. Vinasun CEO Ta Long Hy, however, defended the cabbie.
“It was the disgusting action of the foreign tourists and not the driver,” Hy told Dan Tri. “During the journey, the driver also reminded them to stop several times but received no response. The cabbie did his best. Following the incident, I've reminded drivers to be more cautious.”
[Photo via Tuoi Tre]
