19 April 2016

Taxi drivers stealing phones

| Steven Bailey
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After enjoying a sensible night in Civic a little while ago now, and before I had met my beautiful fiancé, I had an incident with a lovely lady, a devious taxi driver, and my phone.

I remember being happily driven to an abode which was not mine at about 2am. Unexpectedly, and not by my volition, I began a conversation with the taxi driver about politics; he was completely happy and comfortable to converse with me. He disclosed to me that he voted for tony Abbott. Politely, I asked why.

He said to me, and my female company, very sternly, that he voted for Tony Abbott because he didn’t believe that women are suited for high office.

Needless to say, I gave him a thorough shellacking, dressed him down to his bare bones and then had his guts for garters. Having arrived at our destination (her parent’s place!!!), and feeling dismayed yet happy that I gave him what for, I paid the man and slammed the door in justified self-righteousness, only to realise that on the back seat my phone had fallen out of my pocket and was speedily departing into the abyss of a Canberra Friday night.

The next morning I called Vodafail to ask if there had been any calls made since my phone departed from my parched pocket. There had been, and Vodafail gave me the numbers that had been called, some of which were international numbers. I decided to call these numbers. After a series of cunning
impersonations, deceptions and investigation, one person cracked and gave me the name and personal phone number of the driver who had been using my phone – the taxi driver from last night!

I called the taxi driver and told him that all I cared about was getting my phone back and if he did so, that would be the end of that. He refused to cooperate, and because I would have died if I lost all of my numbers saved on the phone, I passed the information onto the police, who were extraordinarily helpful. After asking me a few questions relating to how I extracted the information that identified the perpetrator, my misogynist taxi driver was visited by the police.

I was quite surprised and grateful for how helpful the police were, and I suppose I found it a little intriguing and pleasant to be on the right side of the law for once.

To cut a long story short, and after a bit of good old-fashioned police work, Constable Paul Yates (a great chap) retrieved my phone and delivered it to my house.

I was asked if I wanted to press charges.

Not knowing the man’s history, and considering the possible implications for him personally, I didn’t feel comfortable pressing charges against him. However, the perpetrator, unprovoked, did express some extremely derogatory sentiments regarding the status of women in society before stealing my phone, and I note that he did expend thirty dollars of my phone credit calling a foreign country.

I wrote to Constable Paul Yates, ‘I do not wish to press charges, but to the extent that it is in your power, I would appreciate that you suggest to the perpetrator that he forward compensation to me in the form of a cheque in the amount of thirty dollars for a women’s charity. I will happily deliver
the cheque. Feel free to pass on my details to him if you think he needs any assistance, and please advise him that if he doesn’t feel so inclined I might reconsider my position.

Mr taxi driver, I still have your name and number; I suggest you make a donation to a woman’s charity before Christmas.

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In defence of Canberra’s taxi drivers, a couple of years ago my son left his phone in a Canberra Taxi.
The taxi driver got in touch, and arranged to return the phone to me at home.
He asked for $20 to cover the cost of the trip. I thought that was eminently reasonable, compared with the cost of actually paying for that taxi trip.

VYBerlinaV8_is_back said :

Why would anyone post this story? It sounds like BS to me.

Too right!
It sounds as phony as the allegations of misogyny that Gillard made against Abbott.

Here’s Steven Bailey quoted by the Canberra City News earlier this year:
“As an act of civil disobedience I occasionally swipe something from them [Coles and Woolworths]”.
How many items have you swiped, Steven? I bet your thefts add up to more than $30. You claim to have given the items to the homeless – let’s ask Constable Yates, shall we, whether that justifies shoplifting? Suggest you make a donation for the full amount of what you have stolen, to a charity nominated by Coles and Woolworths.
http://citynews.com.au/2014/failed-senate-candidate-admits-stealing-call-canberrans-likewise/

If Steven Bailey had actually had any contact with feminists he wouldn’t be using the expression “lovely la-deh” to describe a woman he has hung out with.

“…if he doesn’t feel so inclined I might reconsider my position.”
Steven you have missed your calling as a Mr Plod yourself. Your tortured prose would transfer quite happily to the “police report to camera” context.

Maya123 said :

KingLoco said :

user_unknown said :

Wow, am I the only one who isn’t on the side of the taxi driver? Regardless of what Steven Bailey has said to the taxi driver (and yes, he as well as the taxi driver are both entitled to their own opinion) it doesn’t mean the taxi driver has any right to break the law and steal his phone! Taxi drivers should expect to have discussions with passengers and if you’re going to say something as stupid as women shouldnt be in parliament, then you should expect to have said passenger disagree with you (heated argument or not, that’s all he was doing). I get cranky off at taxi drivers who do stuff like that – my partner had an argument with a taxi driver once about the way home and accidentally left his credit card in the cab. Just because the taxi driver was being a complete arse, doesn’t mean he had any right to the use my partners credit card on some dodgy as hell website! Again, it’s against the law! Simple! Personally, if someone used my phone and the cops asked me if I wanted to lay charges, I’d say yes – do the crime, do the time!

You know what you are right, the man shouldn’t used Steven’s phone and there are people out there who are a$$holes and will do what ever it takes to get there own way, so “do the crime, do the time!”

I do have a question for you though,
If Steven would have shown tolerance, humility and patience and accepted the man’s point of view (what ever it was) and said something like this “that we live a beautiful country where your opinion are not suppressed by others or me, although I don’t agree with them, you are entitle to them” How do you think the person will react to something like that? Will he have used the phone that Steven left behind (remember he didn’t steal the phone)?
This is how awkward situations turns into bad situations.. Think about it!

Change women to redheads or blacks, catholics, protestants or another group. Would you and others here have said, “that we live a beautiful country where your opinion are not suppressed by others or me, although I don’t agree with them, you are entitle to them”? (Although I do suspect a proportion of the male writers here do agree with them and wouldn’t have said they didn’t agreed.) Or, change it to a female taxi driver who said that all women are worth more than men and than men are not suited for high office. Would the men here have been so accepting in what he said? Doubtful. It would be more like, “the silly b… feminist of a driver said…”.

I would say Yes and No, if you face someone with a view that is confronting that really doesn’t gel with society, the best option is to defuse the situation and don’t aggravate the situation, don’t share your views as they want listen anyway and you will be wasting your breath and this most of the time will stop escalating to something worse

VYBerlinaV8_is_back4:31 pm 18 Dec 14

Why would anyone post this story? It sounds like BS to me.

The taxi driver has a kinda point. Who are the crazy politicians in Australia. Lambie, Wong, Roxon and hanson-young . Four of the shrill big mouths. The only crazy male is Palmer.

I forgot there’s a new contender the crazy Greens woman who said girls that play with dolls are setting them selves up for lower pay reates when they become adult.

Either charge the guy or don’t . Blackmailing people to make charity donations is probably illegal and a scumbag tactic.

Maya123 said :

Change women to redheads or blacks, catholics, protestants or another group. Would you and others here have said, “that we live a beautiful country where your opinion are not suppressed by others or me, although I don’t agree with them, you are entitle to them”? (Although I do suspect a proportion of the male writers here do agree with them and wouldn’t have said they didn’t agreed.) Or, change it to a female taxi driver who said that all women are worth more than men and than men are not suited for high office. Would the men here have been so accepting in what he said? Doubtful. It would be more like, “the silly b… feminist of a driver said…”.

You must be reading the special invisible comments that no one else can see again?

I’m struggling to see the comments from males here supporting the taxi drivers sexism or his attitude towards women. The only one mentioning people supporting the sexism is you, who are these commentators who are agreeing with the taxi driver?

Geez Steve, didn’t your parents ever teach you not to discuss politics, religion or sex in polite conversation?

Charge him or walk away. I really don’t see what you are going to accomplish by making him write a $30 cheque to a women’s charity. It isn’t going to change his mind or punish him. Talking tough and giving wrist slaps is just going to breed contempt.

If he’s got the repugnant views you say he has, and he’s stolen from you, and lied to you, at what point do you stop tiptoeing around him?

By the way, the header should have been ‘Taxi Driver (singular) stole a phone’. I don’t know where all the plural crap comes from and I’m sure a lot of taxi drivers wouldn’t appreciate it.

KingLoco said :

user_unknown said :

Wow, am I the only one who isn’t on the side of the taxi driver? Regardless of what Steven Bailey has said to the taxi driver (and yes, he as well as the taxi driver are both entitled to their own opinion) it doesn’t mean the taxi driver has any right to break the law and steal his phone! Taxi drivers should expect to have discussions with passengers and if you’re going to say something as stupid as women shouldnt be in parliament, then you should expect to have said passenger disagree with you (heated argument or not, that’s all he was doing). I get cranky off at taxi drivers who do stuff like that – my partner had an argument with a taxi driver once about the way home and accidentally left his credit card in the cab. Just because the taxi driver was being a complete arse, doesn’t mean he had any right to the use my partners credit card on some dodgy as hell website! Again, it’s against the law! Simple! Personally, if someone used my phone and the cops asked me if I wanted to lay charges, I’d say yes – do the crime, do the time!

You know what you are right, the man shouldn’t used Steven’s phone and there are people out there who are a$$holes and will do what ever it takes to get there own way, so “do the crime, do the time!”

I do have a question for you though,
If Steven would have shown tolerance, humility and patience and accepted the man’s point of view (what ever it was) and said something like this “that we live a beautiful country where your opinion are not suppressed by others or me, although I don’t agree with them, you are entitle to them” How do you think the person will react to something like that? Will he have used the phone that Steven left behind (remember he didn’t steal the phone)?
This is how awkward situations turns into bad situations.. Think about it!

Change women to redheads or blacks, catholics, protestants or another group. Would you and others here have said, “that we live a beautiful country where your opinion are not suppressed by others or me, although I don’t agree with them, you are entitle to them”? (Although I do suspect a proportion of the male writers here do agree with them and wouldn’t have said they didn’t agreed.) Or, change it to a female taxi driver who said that all women are worth more than men and than men are not suited for high office. Would the men here have been so accepting in what he said? Doubtful. It would be more like, “the silly b… feminist of a driver said…”.

user_unknown said :

Wow, am I the only one who isn’t on the side of the taxi driver? Regardless of what Steven Bailey has said to the taxi driver (and yes, he as well as the taxi driver are both entitled to their own opinion) it doesn’t mean the taxi driver has any right to break the law and steal his phone! Taxi drivers should expect to have discussions with passengers and if you’re going to say something as stupid as women shouldnt be in parliament, then you should expect to have said passenger disagree with you (heated argument or not, that’s all he was doing). I get cranky off at taxi drivers who do stuff like that – my partner had an argument with a taxi driver once about the way home and accidentally left his credit card in the cab. Just because the taxi driver was being a complete arse, doesn’t mean he had any right to the use my partners credit card on some dodgy as hell website! Again, it’s against the law! Simple! Personally, if someone used my phone and the cops asked me if I wanted to lay charges, I’d say yes – do the crime, do the time!

You know what you are right, the man shouldn’t used Steven’s phone and there are people out there who are a$$holes and will do what ever it takes to get there own way, so “do the crime, do the time!”

I do have a question for you though,
If Steven would have shown tolerance, humility and patience and accepted the man’s point of view (what ever it was) and said something like this “that we live a beautiful country where your opinion are not suppressed by others or me, although I don’t agree with them, you are entitle to them” How do you think the person will react to something like that? Will he have used the phone that Steven left behind (remember he didn’t steal the phone)?
This is how awkward situations turns into bad situations.. Think about it!

Steven Bailey said :

Thanks for the spiritual guidance. The man thinks that women are second-class citizens, and then he stole my phone. I had the opportunity to press charges but decided not to because I didn’t want to affect his family or visa status, etc. But I’ll certainly take your adroit observations into consideration the next time someone explains to me why he thinks that he is a superior being to every female on earth. Cheers

I don’t believe you, your probably just heard what you wanted to hear, after all you had been drinking.
You’ve allegedly already harassed the taxi driver and committed fraud against the people on the phone.

You always have to ask as a reader of these posts what the write is leaving out.

Is someone a misogynist for not liking Julia Gillard?

I hope you asked your good constables permission for using his name all over the internet.

I don’t understand this.

A bloke finds a phone in the back of a cab, makes a few calls on it, and the police are interested in charging him? With what?

I’m sure he technically committed an offence, but it is hard to believe that the cops were interested in the paperwork involved in charging him over (at most) a few hundred dollars.

And Steven doesn’t record the cops response to his suggestion that he would be ‘let off’ if he made a charitable donation.

And what is the relevance of his political views? Is there a link between supporting Abbott and misogyny now?

To me, this story smells worse than the back of the average cab.

Steven Bailey said :

Thanks for the spiritual guidance. The man thinks that women are second-class citizens, and then he stole my phone. I had the opportunity to press charges but decided not to because I didn’t want to affect his family or visa status, etc. But I’ll certainly take your adroit observations into consideration the next time someone explains to me why he thinks that he is a superior being to every female on earth. Cheers

Get back to us when your sex industry is equal opportunity!

user_unknown7:16 pm 17 Dec 14

Wow, am I the only one who isn’t on the side of the taxi driver? Regardless of what Steven Bailey has said to the taxi driver (and yes, he as well as the taxi driver are both entitled to their own opinion) it doesn’t mean the taxi driver has any right to break the law and steal his phone! Taxi drivers should expect to have discussions with passengers and if you’re going to say something as stupid as women shouldnt be in parliament, then you should expect to have said passenger disagree with you (heated argument or not, that’s all he was doing). I get cranky off at taxi drivers who do stuff like that – my partner had an argument with a taxi driver once about the way home and accidentally left his credit card in the cab. Just because the taxi driver was being a complete arse, doesn’t mean he had any right to the use my partners credit card on some dodgy as hell website! Again, it’s against the law! Simple! Personally, if someone used my phone and the cops asked me if I wanted to lay charges, I’d say yes – do the crime, do the time!

Steven Bailey said :

Thanks for the spiritual guidance. The man thinks that women are second-class citizens, and then he stole my phone. I had the opportunity to press charges but decided not to because I didn’t want to affect his family or visa status, etc. But I’ll certainly take your adroit observations into consideration the next time someone explains to me why he thinks that he is a superior being to every female on earth. Cheers

“someone explains to me why he thinks that he is a superior being to every female on earth.”

And I would suggest by the comments you got here, that includes a lot of males on this forum. Otherwise they would not have made them. Thank you for giving the taxi driver another view. I imagine many here wouldn’t. Rather something like, “I hear you mate.”

Steven Bailey said :

Thanks for the spiritual guidance. The man thinks that women are second-class citizens, and then he stole my phone. I had the opportunity to press charges but decided not to because I didn’t want to affect his family or visa status, etc. But I’ll certainly take your adroit observations into consideration the next time someone explains to me why he thinks that he is a superior being to every female on earth. Cheers

It is obvious from your further comments that the taxi driver was a Muslim so why don’t you say it? Understand that Muslims have cultural concessions in Australia so where is your tolerance?

Steven,
what is the point of telling us how bad and wrong this taxi driver’s opinion is?

Do you think there is a direct link between his politics and his predeliction for stealing and using your phone?

Would you be so concerned about the taxi driver’s behaviour if his politics aligned with your own? and would you behaviour be any different if it did?

justin heywood5:01 pm 17 Dec 14

Steven, we only have your word for it that this evil guy just happened to tell you that he was an Abbott supporter who also happened to be a misogynist, probably among the top hair-trigger topics in your hoped-for constituency.

It may well have been a remarkable coincidence. In any event, in terms of your story and your political aspirations, it was remarkably convenient.

Steven Bailey3:59 pm 17 Dec 14

Thanks for the spiritual guidance. The man thinks that women are second-class citizens, and then he stole my phone. I had the opportunity to press charges but decided not to because I didn’t want to affect his family or visa status, etc. But I’ll certainly take your adroit observations into consideration the next time someone explains to me why he thinks that he is a superior being to every female on earth. Cheers

Would you seriously accept a cheque from a deceitful misogynist?
If you left your phone in my car and then slammed the door you would not see that phone again.

So publicly blackmail the guy because you didn’t like his opinion. Nice one.

You had a difference in opinion with someone else – In these situations, (especially if the person you are disagreeing with is tasked with something important, something which, if carried out incorrectly, could kill you… such as driving you home), a normal person would:

a) Ignore the person
b) Change the conversation
c) Have light banter.

Instead, you’ve gone off your rocker on some sort of holier-than-thou crusade, have done absolutely nothing to sway the opinion of the taxi driver and been careless enough to leave your phone behind…

Now you’re wondering why you didn’t get it back?

This is called Karma.

How you treat people is how you treat them back.

Sure, his opinions may not align with yours (Trust me, i’m very with you with what you were saying, you’ve just completely gone about it the worst way possible) but that doesn’t mean you should disrespect such a person, all it does is breed more hate.

Hi Steven Bailey,
I thought we live in a country that we can have our own opinion? Don’t we???
Put yourself in the Taxi driver’s position, you have just shared your opinion and you have some dude giving you a serving for believing in something that might not be P.C.
I suggest that you take the responsibility of your own doing and outcomes!
Do you think that if you didn’t “gave him a thorough shellacking, dressed him down to his bare bones and then had his guts for garters” when he shared “his” opinion and you left your phone behind he would still make the phone calls……….
Think about “Karma” and educate yourself before you have the right to give someone your opinion.
By putting yourself on this forum, you have open yourself for others to comments, so this is only a comment and I don’t have the right have an opinion of you as I don’t know you, I only know what you have written. So, before you make a comment think about how could you have changed the outcome.
I do hope that you’ve gain from your experience and next time when someone share’s their opinion with you and it’s not what you believe, you think about it for a few seconds before you share your opinion.
Good luck.

PS. Suggest you read “How to win friends and influence people” and you might learn something useful.

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