Bilked in Bruges?

 

In Bruges, we hired a taxi to take us to town.  We got a very nice taxi driver.  He was from Iraq, if I remember right. I don't remember his name.  He was friendly and kind.  He spoke of family in such a positive way.  He was a joyful person.  We had such a nice discussion with him on the 20-minute ride into town.

  When we reached the town square, Ken tried to pay with his credit card and it wouldn't work on the driver's little device.  He tried several times.  Then Don tried two or three times with his card.  We didn't have local currency.  So we arranged for him to pick us up at 2:00pm and take us back to the ship where we would go onboard and get cash in Euros.  He met us at a pre-arranged place and took us back to the ship at 2:00. When we got back to the ship, they tried the credit cards again, with no success. The driver kept pushing the OK button on the little device, but it just didn't seem to be working. Between Ada and Ken, we had enough cash to pay in American dollars, including a nice tip.  He accepted that money so that he wouldn't have to wait while we went back in to the ship. We bid him a fond farewell.  We had truly enjoyed his company.

Later, Ken was shocked when our credit card company reported that we had been charged three times for the taxi ride.  We just couldn't believe that nice man had swindled us.  It upset me a lot.  It wasn't the money.  I knew we could contest the charges and would get our money.  I think what bothered me most is that my spirit judged him to be a good, honest man.  How could I be so fooled? I felt good in his presence.  Am I that poor of a judge of character?  Was that not the spirit that I felt in his presence?  It really shook me up.

A few days later, Ken went to our online credit card statement and found those charges had been removed.   The taxi driver realized his mistake and fixed it. I can't tell you how relieved I was.  It restored my faith in humanity and in my own judgment.