Dear Sir,

It had to happen. I mean, what are the odds that it wouldn’t happen in so many decades. That it hadn’t happened in the past 33 years during which we’ve spent summers in Bermuda tells you what a shock it was when it did happen ... today.

It didn’t happen in my thirties, forties or fifties. Now I’m almost 70 and it happened. Today (Thursday, June 20, 2024), I encountered a rude taxi driver in Bermuda.

I couldn’t believe it. I was leaving Lindo’s and had just put all of my bags in the boot when a very large van-type taxi parked right next to my car. I went over to the window of the decades-younger driver and said that I couldn’t get into my car.

There were just a couple inches between my car and her taxi. I’m a slight woman of build and there was no way I could squeeze in.

The taxi driver, annoyed because she was chatting on her phone, told me to get into my car from the other side. Well, I have bucket seats, so imagine how I was going to perform gymnastics to get into my driver’s seat.

Wouldn’t it have been easier and polite if she just backed up a bit so I could get in. But, no, she held her ground, and so I held mine.

I guess she realised I wasn’t going anywhere, so she finally and very begrudgingly backed up a bit. As I was leaving, I could hear her complaining about me to whoever she was chatting with.

Some of my best Bermuda memories are those spent in the company of fine, old-time gentlemen taxi drivers who became family friends. Shame on the woman I encountered today, a woman who represents Bermuda to visitors and locals alike.

KATHY ZOLL

St George’s