It Happens to The Best of Us.

Thursday night about 9.45pm, a young male teenager hailed my cab along Drive 1 in Pasir Ris. "Hello Uncle, do you accept Nets?" he asked. "Yes I do" I replied. "Okay, I would like to go to Tampines St.45 thank you".
In a short while when I started driving, he said, "Uncle, could you drive a bit faster as I am on probation and I need to reach home by 10.00pm, and by the way, can I pay the balance of the fare in cash as I only have $4.00 in my ATM card?". "Huh? of course not, how much cash do you have in hand?" I asked. He said "I've about $3.00 something". "What? you mean that's all you've got? Is there anybody at home you can call to bring some cash for you? Your parents maybe?" I asked. He replied "No, nobody at home, both my parents are still working and won't be home so early". I questioned him again, "Why didn't you tell me all this before you boarded my cab? Why didn't you try to go home earlier by bus instead of till the last minute?". "Uncle, sorry lah, but I promise to pay you by tomorrow afternoon through my ATM card to your bank account. You just give me your bank account number".
Another story teller trying to pull a fast one. We were nearing his flat and I had already dismissed his excuses and decided to just collect whatever cash he had and said. "Never mind about my POSB account number, just give me the cash you have in hand" as I stopped in front of his flat. He dugged deep into his pockets as I watched and he could only manage to come up with $1.50
"Uncle, that's all I got, but I promise to transfer $10.00 to you tomorrow afternoon, I promise. I'm so sorry".
"Look here, don't tell me stories, just call my hand phone number now" I said and he immediately called. My hand phone rang and I told him I would message him my bank account number later. He alighted and said sorry a couple of times and I simply nodded.
The metered fare was $7.30 which is of no big deal to me and I just want to forget about the incident and continue to ply the roads, erasing all sour thoughts from my mind. This is, but one of the many unfortunate types of cons and cheats we encounter daily as a taxi driver.