‘Only in New York’: Cab driver refuses to let go of woman’s luggage but people are on his side

Getting a cab in New York can cost an arm and a leg, not literally of course, but it is expensive. One woman was filmed fighting with a yellow cab driver over her luggage after an argument broke out over how much he was trying to charge her for the journey.

Taxi fares may suck, but it definitely beats taking the subway. Anyways, the short clip, which is already going viral on TikTok shows a middle-aged woman trying to wrestle her bag from the boot of a yellow cab while the driver holds on to it. She can be heard screaming for others to help but the bystanders seem hesitant to get involved. Although it’s somewhat chaotic, it quickly becomes apparent that the taxi driver and his customer are arguing over her not paying.

Over the woman’s desperate screams the driver is able to tell the bystanders that she did not pay her fare which is why he’s refusing to let her get away with her luggage, it may be the only way of getting her to pay. The bystanders are quick to back up the driver as one person can be heard telling her to pay the fare. After that the rest of the crowd joins in, telling her to pay the man for his service.

New York sides with the cab driver, but TikTok sides with the woman

While those who witnessed the altercation in person took the side of the driver, there are two sides to every story. The woman can be heard trying to explain that the driver “went around the whole city without using a GPS,” which obviously would drive up her fare price.

The crowd around her don’t seem to pay much attention to her excuse, perhaps because she seems slightly hysterical, but the people of TikTok took her side. “Some of these taxi drivers intentionally get lost,” wrote one viewer, “I don’t blame her.” Plenty of others agreed, with most viewers claiming that New York cabs were a rip off and that the crowd were wrong to pressure her to pay.

Of course, who’s to say which of the two are truly in the wrong, is the woman simply trying to get out of paying? Or was she truly scammed by a driver who thought he could swindle her out of her money? Who knows?

According to the person who posted the video the cab driver did eventually receive payment, although not from the woman. Responding to a comment he claimed that a guy from a nearby jewelry store paid the fare.