Woman blasts cabby for refusing to let her child eat in taxi, gets called out for being 'entitled parent'

A passenger's attempt to lambast a taxi driver who had stopped her child from eating on board backfired when netizens labelled her as "entitled" instead.

In a post shared to Facebook page SG Road Vigilante last Sunday (Jan 4), the passenger blasted a "rude" ComfortDelGro cabby, whom she claimed was impatient and drove recklessly.

The woman, who was not identified, wrote that she had given her two-year-old daughter a "small piece of biscuit" to snack on, so she would "sit down quietly" during the ride.

When the child took a bite of the biscuit, however, the taxi driver informed the woman that eating in the taxi is not allowed.

Taken aback by his remark, the passenger subsequently recorded their conversation, which was also uploaded to the Facebook page.

In the one-minute clip of their exchange, she can be heard telling the cabby in Mandarin that other taxi drivers have never stopped her child from eating on board, adding that she would help clean up the mess if her child dirtied the vehicle.

The driver then calmly replied that it is hard to locate fallen food crumbs and reiterated that passengers are not allowed to consume food while in taxis.

"I know that there's a sign [prohibiting food and drinks], but she's a child, can you relax?" rebuked the passenger.

She then explained that parents of young kids would usually pacify their children with food, and asked the driver if he has children.

"I don't allow my children to eat in cars too, you have to teach them this," responded the driver. "I'm just explaining [this rule] to you, I don't want to quarrel."

At the end of the post, the woman wrote: "Your attitude as a taxi driver need to improve... see the short video of how he talked to me."

'Respect the driver': Netizens

The post on SG Road Vigilante, which has garnered over 3,500 comments as of Tuesday morning, caused a stir among netizens who slammed the passenger for disrespecting the driver's rules.

"Entitled parent. I have two children of my own and I'll never allow them to snack in other person's vehicle without seeking prior permission," said one netizen.

Another netizen added: "Please respect the driver and ask for permission before doing that. I also do not allow my kids to eat inside the car."

"As parents, we should be good role model to our kids by respecting others when sitting in someone else's car... I'm sure there are other ways to keep kids entertained, such as bringing a toy to keep them distracted," opined another.

Several commenters also pointed out that the driver did not speak to the woman in a rude manner.

"How is the driver rude?" questioned a netizen.

"Driver seems polite and reasonable," pointed out one commenter.

On the other hand, a netizen said that young children do not understand such rules and might have a meltdown if hungry.

"Don't need to bash the mom also. She also wants to calm her daughter down... Give and take," said the Facebook user.

According to ComfortDelGro's website, passengers should not eat, drink, litter, smoke or vandalise the taxi to keep the vehicle clean for the next passenger.

ALSO READ: 'Sounds like you're the troublemaker': Man gets slammed for complaining about PHV driver lecturing him in car

lim.kewei@asiaone.com