Claim's Cabbies Corner. Repo Revenge.

[Warren t claim]

A little over two months ago I was despatched a job to take a 92 year old lady half a mile to the shops. She'd not long lost her husband to cancer and after being double jabbed this was her first trip out alone after he passed away. She asked me about my Covid vaccine status and I told her that I'd already had Covid. Curious, she enquired how badly I was affected so I gave her the honest answer, I had a bad dry cough that lasted four days and I spent the next ten days on the sofa wondering if I was going to die. I told her that to pass the time I watched Citizen Kane and Casablanca as I felt that if I might die then I really should watch those classic films before I shuffle my mortal coil! She found this funny and she laughed all the way to the shops.

Earlier today I get the same job sent to me. I vaguely remember her from before and she gets in the back of my Hyundai. During the journey, she tells me that our drivers are wonderful and always polite. She then tells me the story of her first shopping trip without her late husband. She says that she was close to tears with grief and anxiety but our driver made her laugh and smile for the first time since her husband died by telling the story of when he got Covid and whilst isolating and wondering if he was going to snuff it so spent the time on his sofa watching Citizen Kane and Casablanca as he felt that if he might die then he really should watch those classic films before its too late. Apparently, his personality and funny story helped her feel confident enough to face her first trip out alone.

I really wanted to tell her that I was the driver she was talking to but thought better of it. I quite like the fact that she tells our story to every driver that takes her.

I'll always remember her telling me my story and what good it did her until the day I die. This little old lady certainly made my day!

[Warren t claim]

Don't for one minute think I've gone soft!

[TADTS]

Don't for one minute think I've gone soft!

I mean.....there's a few ways one could take that comment. Just how happy did you make her?

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

[Warren t claim]

Don't for one minute think I've gone soft!

I mean.....there's a few ways one could take that comment. Just how happy did you make her?

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

[youtube][/youtube]

[Warren t claim]

Maybe it's time we spoke about the touchy subject of race here.

Although in plenty of northern towns the majority of taxi and ph drivers are Asian, here on Merseyside Asian drivers only make up less than 10% of taxi pilots.

Most are new starters and have been badges for less than five years but there's a few that have been on the taxis for well over a decade. The long termers are well liked and respected by other drivers and are top lads. I even have a couple of them on my FB friends and I trust them 100%.

The new starters can be something of a mixed bag, most are good but sadly a few are utterly shit at the job which makes the others look bad. The problem is that all the new starters, both good and bad, drive similar cars, the Toyota Prius, so they all get tarred with the same brush.

As you can imagine, the rumour mill works overtime with both drivers and passengers about these lads. Sometimes it's hard to separate the truth from the bullshit that gets said. One rumour is that when the council sit the local knowledge test, Asian drivers are split off from the rest and take the test in a different room where they are helped to pass. One rumour that DID turn out to be fact is several Asian drivers working the same badge and car when only one of them was badged. One gang was rumbled when the taxi office noticed that the same driver had worked five days straight without a break. Another got busted when a manager from our then head office in Liverpool decided to pay a visit. The manager ordered a taxi from the local train station and when the "driver" arrived to collect him the driver didn't know where our office was!

There's a theory that as most Asian drivers gravitate towards working on the Uber platform, our firm only gets the ones that have been booted off there for being shit at the job. Sadly there's more than a grain of truth in that.

I get told plenty of stories from passengers about their negative experiences with Asian drivers, most saying that they demanded a postcode for their destination and the passenger didn't know the postcode for the pub he was going to and the usual "you show and I go" demand for directions.

One thing that's guaranteed to get you thrown out of many local taxis, including mine, is to walk over to my car that you've booked, look through the open passenger window and say "thank fuck you're not a Paki". Wirral is about 95% white British, I can understand (sort of) being racist if in your area being white puts you in the minority, but not here. We have never had race riots or any BNP local councilors.

Most of our new Asian intake have jumped on the taxis as a way of bettering life for their families, driving a taxi offers more opportunities for making money than working as a waiter in a tandoori or doing the night shift in a 24 hour garage. Many didn't have a full driving licence so saved up to pass their test and wait a year until they could get a badge. This explains why most took no chances by taking the easier route and taking their test in an automatic. After all, they were only going to taxi in a Prius so a stick licence wasn't needed.

One thing's for sure though, if I had to take as much shit and abuse from the general public as they do every shift I'd find another job.

What about our oriental drivers? Well we only have two and they both work on the hacks. Chinese Mike got off to a shaky start with his poor English and sense of direction but he got there in the end. Ray The Cocklepicker is a friendly and diligent driver. Sadly Ray has one big weakness, gambling. Ray used to have a chippy but managed to lose it in a card game hence the career change to the cabs. He's totally pragmatic about it, he says that his father gambled and it's a way of life for him. I often see his cab parked outside Betfred.

[Warren t claim]

A couple of points to note about our Asian drivers.

Almost all of them adorned their cars with England stickers during the recent Euros, very few white drivers did!

I don't know whether they're under pressure to repay the loan for their Prius off the local Muslim Mafia, but they really will do any job, regardless of how dangerous it is.

[mercrocker]

For logistic reasons there are generally only two places I regularly use cabs - one is Weymouth the other is Luton. As can be expected, those in Luton are highly likely to be Asian driven, in fact the only White British ones tend to be on the outward journey to a gig if it starts in the afternoon. Not really had a bad experience with any of 'em but one which stands out was a youngish guy in a, yep, Prius who we got from the taxi office next to the venue after closing time.

Studying my drape suit as I got in (I always fold the jacket and give it to Mrs Rocker in the back seat) I plonked down in front and buckled up. "Been to funeral?" he asked. I usually get a bit tetchy about that but he genuinely had no idea about Edwardian Teddy Boy style. I gave him a brief rundown of the sub-culture and he immediately lightened up. "Check this out" he said and fiddled with the dash. A barrage of early Elvis crashed out of the speakers, the remaining Teds at the office counter stood chip-to-open-mouth and watched us glide away to Mystery Train.

Turned out he was a full-on Elvis nut, his father had been back in Bangladesh and he was delighted not to have to turn off his beloved download collection all the way back to the out-of-town hotel.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Most taxi drivers in Sheffield are Pakistani, all of them have been utterly sound with me. Pre covid I'd always sit in the front and have a chat with the guy whether it be coming back from the pub or whatever. They all have a story to tell. One had been driving since 1979 and had a story about how he raced a rival driver back from Barnsley in an identical Mark 3 Cortina 1600 and both got pulled at the same time on the M1 by a copper.

Worst taxi drivers are the Krauts. They really are miserable bastards. German domiciled Turks are fine however.

[AMCrebel]

I had a highly amusing conversation with a muslim taxi driver on the way to see my dying uncle in hospital. After asking me what I was doing and me explaining I'd travelled quite a distance to see my uncle who was in hospital, he then explained to me without a hint of irony that in "his culture" family members would be expected to visit if a relative such as an uncle was ill in hospital. We parted on good terms and I had a smile about my "culture" which, although he had very obviously missed it, was exactly like his.

[AMCrebel]

Worst taxi drivers are the Krauts. They really are miserable bastards. German domiciled Turks are fine however.

I had a similar experience in Kuwait. The "native" Kuwaiti drivers were pretty average - a filthy old Chevy Caprice if you're lucky.
I got an Indian bloke one time and he had an immaculate Mitsubishi with working aircon and he was on time.
My mate once got out of a Kuwati taxi after it collided with another taxi and the drivers were rowing - he just got out and hailed another cab.