Unit 06 Haste makes waste

“Haste makes waste” is a saying that most people are familiar with, but I had never given it a thought until recently. Last Friday evening, I needed to attend a class reunion at a restaurant in downtown Taipei. After I got out of my office, I hailed a taxi at a street corner. As I was a little late, I told the taxi-driver to drive faster. The taxi-driver was a man of fifty or so, and he was an extremely kind man. Although I kept reminding him that I was in a hurry, he didn’t lose his temper. He even tried to chat with me, knowing that I was losing patience with the traffic flow at the peak time. He managed to drive faster, though. But while we were making a left turn, our cab collided with a speeding car. A very serious traffic jam resulted and we were stuck in it for about an hour. Now I understand why doing things in haste can be a waste of time.