DEAR MISS MANNERS: Is there a rule of etiquette about where a couple is seated in a taxicab? I think the couple should sit in the back. My gentleman friend believes he should sit in the front with the driver to give directions (despite GPS navigation and the fact that taxi drivers usually know where they are going).
I feel it is discourteous to let me sit alone in the back while he chats with the driver. We are both elderly and somewhat stubborn in our beliefs. Your thoughts may help keep the peace.
GENTLE READER: Your gentleman friend's place is in the back with you -- not sitting on the driver's phone and unanswered mail in the front seat, not driving, and not sitting on the hood, satisfying though the latter might be.
Miss Manners recognizes that not all taxi drivers are good navigators, and that the customer is allowed reasonable say in the route. But back-seat driving can be done from the back seat and, if done properly, with decent consideration for the professional feelings of the driver.