It was all meant to be so simple. In search of a couple basic items, some toiletries I had forgotten to pack, I chatted with the concierge at a four-star hotel in Amman, Jordan. The man offered to organize a ride over to a local mall. He would make a call. A few minutes later the hotel’s SUV could be at the front door, ready to shuttle me on my shopping trip. Oh, but the cost? The convenience and comfort would set me back many multiples more than the going rate of a local taxicab.
Being an especially thrifty person when it comes to transportation during travel, I decided to go it alone. Walking a couple blocks, I arrived on the roadside of a major thoroughfare, now teeming with rush-hour traffic. No problem, right? It seemed at least a third of all those cars were well-worn yellow taxis. I held my hand up in what was, ultimately, a failed attempt to flag one down. It seemed hopeless. Taxi after taxi zoomed past, each one with a couple people in the back (or a passenger in the front).
