Why..?

Manly cabbie asks...

adrian one must ask do you just drive a cab around just to write stories for this blog or do you do it to make a living for looking here at what hours u work me thinks you be better getting a real job.

Why do I do, what I do ? Trust a cabbie to ask a direct question, though a fair one at that. Leaving aside the implication I’m wasting my time driving a cab, I’ll give it a shot...

In general taxi driving can be seen as a futile and dangerous occupation, involving low wages and long hours. To support a family and/or keep the bank manager happy requires pushing oneself beyond the limits of health and safety, resulting in one shitty job.

And many drivers do that, grossing $50-60K pa. Good luck to them, but for me it’s utterly pointless to exponentially increase the risk of burnout and/or an early death.

Conversely, driving a cab for forty hours per week makes for a relaxed and enjoyable occupation. That is, I take it easy, avoiding the worst passengers and neighbourhoods plus starting, stopping and finishing whenever I want.

This type of work freedom and flexibility more than compensates for the lousy money. Plus I estimate that living within five minutes from the taxi base is worth thousands of dollars per year in reduced stress levels.

Of course taxi driving is a real job, one which the Taxation Office classes as a self-employed small business. Moreover, it could easily be argued that it’s also a noble and honourable profession, providing a much needed service to millions of commuters each year. A matter of pride and perspective.

Possibly the best thing about driving cabs when middle-aged is that one doesn’t have to justify one’s existence. At least in the same way young cabbies might. Hacking is not something one pursues with a full life ahead, unless undertaken on a short-term basis whilst establishing a career.

To date I’ve had a couple of rewarding short careers, having worked in a some of the best jobs and locations in Australia. At my age such experiences leaves one with a quiet contentment, feeling no need to seek jobs which diminish work-life. Which is not to say life is necessarily ideal or perfect as few could claim ‘perfection’, an entirely subjective exercise in any case.

Whilst not wealthy I have no debt, which in today’s world means I’m rich ! Additionally I don’t have dependants or financial obligations and so have a manageable lifestyle. Thus a freedom from desire for optimum wealth allows me to devote the essential time needed for other pursuits. Call me lucky.

These days I consider myself primarily a writer, in the last term of a self-taught cadetship producing content for the Web. A period which has involved some thirty hours per week over the last four years. To wit, this post, a particularly hard one to nail, has taken over four hours to compile.

The next stage of my plan involves fully exploiting this learning experience by finessing a large body of work; maybe a book or two; adopting professional marketing and promotion; developing new media platforms; and scoring a gig with the Evil Empire. I’m ready to cash-in; show me the money !

So, taxi driving is simply the means by which I pay the bills whilst developing a new skill. Sure, some may question the depth of that talent but a healthy readership and mainstream media recognition encourages me to persevere with the craft.

Finally, after some eleven years in the saddle I’ll go to work tonight with the same anticipation and enthusiasm I’ve had for years. There’ll be new people to meet and interact with, albeit fleetingly, yet long enough to reveal why they do, what they do.

For a writer and blogger this endless source of free content is a gift, and a major reason why I still relish driving cabs.

Comments

[Hardman]

You'll get there. Looking forward to your first book Adrian.

Your in a very similar situation and have the same perspective on work as the NYC bouncer. He got his book out last month!

http://standingonthebox.blogspot.com/

[PQ]

There are a million or more blogs out there, and many very good ones, but the common thread seems to be either politics, what the kids/cat/dog did today, or why the world is doomed, doomed I say.

I have been a long term (in cyber years) reader of this blog, and I like it because of the interesting little snippets of nightlife, the short essays about various denizens of the dark, and the occasional snapshot of hidden corners of Australia's biggest city (and my one time home town).

It is interesting and unique, and very far from the usual run of same old guff everywhere in the blogosphere.
Even the commenters are usually polite, amusing or thoughtful, and the occasional troll has not lasted long before summary execution has occurred.

I would be one of the first in line if you ever get around to writing a book about the ups and downs of cab life, Adrian.

But don't forget there are many more important things in life, friends and family to visit, fish to be caught, new places to see. Stress ain't worth it.

[Skyring]

You write well, Adrian. You have the ability to tell a story, to make it interesting, and to link it in with other themes.

More impressively, perhaps, is your ability to put out a consistent product - almost every day I find a new entry, and not just an "I drove here, there and now I'm tired" post.

My own blog entries are pretty sparse nowadays, and they tend to be more "set-pieces" taking days or weeks to write.

I'd hate to have to drive for a living. But for a good way to earn good money to support my travel bug, it's hard to beat. The work is pleasant, rarely stressful, the biggest challenge is balancing lack of regular exercise with the temptation to snack on junk food.

[Aurelius]

Curious Adrian what you mean by "the evil Empire"?
When I use the term, it's in relation to the country's largest corporation. But I work in telecommunications.

[Anthony]

Hey, I work for that Evil Empire and you're right, Aurelius - they all do want to score a gig with us!

[Goldstein]

I love driving, around the city and suburbs, or interstate, but driving cabs reminded me frequently of Jean-Paul Sartre's comment: "Hell is other people".

Working as gate security on big events -likewise. Every punter had the unshakeable belief that they were special, that you'd remember them -"Can I give you my family ticket now? My husband Donald will be here in about an hour -can you let him in then? We'll be over at the petting zoo. He's wearing a blue striped shirt, brown cord slacks..." Ahh, no.

Working as an investigator may have given me a jaded view of people (and PTSD..), but driving cabs -terrible money, the punters mostly presume you're stupid, and foreign, if you work out of a depot you have to deal with other drivers, many of whom ARE stupid, and often foreign.. We had drivers who sold grass; some calls to their mobile phone were the wife, some were customers wanting a deal, dropped off on the way to a fare..

And as this blog has mentioned before, the customers want the "quickest" way to wherever -if there's traffic, the meter keeps running, their eyes keep looking at that meter ticking over, and if it's more than they expected it's your fault..

I consider going back to driving taxis on Friday and Saturday nights, but then I think -you have to deal with all those PEOPLE and their personalities.. my favorite taxi jobs were carting kidneys from one hospital to another for transplant, or parcel deliveries, or dropping retarded patients home for weekend leave -any pasengers/cargo that didn't expect a FLOOR SHOW or juggling, as well as a safe trip, for their $8.70..

Nope, I'm going back to the Law -if I have to deal with dickheads, they can pay me $300/hour to do it...

[adrian]

Thanks everyone for the encouraging feedback. The long-touted book will materialise yet. As for 'Evil Empire', Aurelius, it's just a generic, throw-away term to describe the MSM, affectionally of course. Coincidentally I also worked in communications, Telecom, though ultimately I considered it a padded cell. Great last line, Goldstein, classic.

[mc]

Well, Adrian, I hope you can still fit your head in that cab if I say that as a Canadian now living in Sydney, one of my biggest dream is to get to ride with you. I would then feel that my Sydney experience is complete.

Sadly, I am hardly ever in the city when night falls. Coming to think of it, I am hardly in cabs ever! So I guess it'll be hard for my dream to come true!

[jayjay]

I'm with you mc. Would love to ride with Adrian but never catch cabs - and live in queensland!

[jayjay]

I'm with you mc. Would love to ride with Adrian but never catch cabs - and live in queensland!