I’ve tried really hard to be the laid-back foreigner who takes the Metro all the time. Usually on my Metro ride back from wherever I am, though, my American princess side takes over. The Metro is freaking HOT. Like, clothes-sticking-to-your-back hot. Yesterday droplets of sweat literally fell off my face. And although the subway performers are interesting in a cultural kind of way, it’s annoying when the dude with the speaker strapped to his stomach can’t move amid the crush of people, and so you spend the entire ride with cumbia blasting in your ear.
So I’ve started taking taxis. Like, once a day. They’re cheap enough to where I can afford it, but since I’ve taken so many, I now find myself wincing if the ride is more than 60 pesos (about $4USD) and it’s not rush hour. So… I’ve started hailing them off the street. But only the safe taxis (gold and red colored sedans), and only when they have license plates, and a meter.
The issue is that I don’t know how much to tip. A Mexican friend swears that she never tips, unless the guy has gone above and beyond the call of duty. I used to tip 10 pesos all the time. Now, maybe two.
Today the driver who took me to the Centro got a two-peso tip, and we were chatting the whole time about me being a foreigner in a new city. He sent me off with a curt “Buen dia.”
My question: Am I going to get karmic payback for not tipping taxistas?
Interestingly, Crayton’s Spanish conversation partner, who is Mexican, says the Metro is mostly used by the lower-class and the mid-lower class. People with money have cars.