Clowns

Well it's time for a update after being side tracked over a video project, finished just in time for Christmas. This precluded all else, including emails, blogging and other regular tasks. Except work, of course.

This damage above happened when a boy/punk stood in the middle of the road hailing wildly. He had already stopped one cab with the door wide open and upon seeing me approach he suddenly stepped into my lane. As I swerved he cocked his arm and punched the side mirror, smashing the glass and weather shield.

That was the end of the shift when the City was jumping and I had three hours remaining. I turned and caught up with the kid and four of his mates across the road. Obviously they were trying to get to Matraville or Malabar and no one in their right mind would accept such a fare at that hour.

They didn't run but loitered with a brazeness beyond their pubescant years, challenging me to do something about it. So I went around the corner to the police station. They were busy dealing with a mother looking for a missing daughter, and I was only half-hearted so I left.

Another incident happened recently down in the Shire. Same time, after 3am Sunday morning when three fellas aged around thirty five offered to pay up front from a nightclub in Sutherland. I told them don't worry about pre-payment, just get in and I'd take them home.

At the destination they simply got out and walked away with the excuse that $18 was too expensive. Six dollars each. The 'ol cab or kebab situation. In the dead of night I yelled after them, "You don't rob the poor, that's a dog act!"

For this I had to dodge a full plastic water bottle with an invitation to 'suck my c***'. So I headed to the local cops and found two patrol officers finishing their shift and looking bone weary. I told them not to worry about it.

Leaving Engadine I spotted the clowns in the front yard of a house on the highway. Now, thanks to Google I know the residents name and their sons working in the family business, their Facebook pages, and how a local politican advocated on their behalf in Parliament after a business contract with the Government went sour. Of course, he argued, they were a hard-working small business just trying to do the right thing. Or some such pap.

If it wasn't Christmas and I was the vindicative type I could have some fun with such information. I'm thinking of a recent link sent by a reader. It reports on a cabbie exacting sweet revenge on a dickhead passenger, via Facebook. It's beautiful.

Happy Christmas to all, but be careful - there's a lot of bloody idiots out there.

Comments

[RobH]

Happy Christmas, Adrian! Thanks for all your posts throughout the year, and sorry that you have to deal with so many clowns - especially so in your line of work. Hope you have a great time with family and friends. Look forward to reading your posts in the new year.

[Sarah]

Merry Christmas! and thankyou for such an entertaining read through out the year.

[Phoenix]

Hey Adrian, I love your blog, I check in weekly to see what is happening. Can I ask you two questions?
Taxi drivers the lowest paid workers: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/taxi-drivers-among-the-countrys-lowest-paid-20111228-1pcxi.html
I am genuinely curious. Why do you drive a taxi if the pay is so crap?
And this one, it may be an urban myth, is it illegal for taxi drivers to turn down a fare?
I hope you have a safe and profitible new year.
Keep blogging!

[adrian]

Phoenix, it's not so much the pay is crap but the hourly rate. Drivers make up for this by doing big hours. Many support families, put their kids through college, pay mortgages.

Otherwise, as one of the articles respondents said, if a driver has low overheads and lives reasonably frugal we can survive without living in the cab.

At my age one makes do employment wise, the days of career change are over. Besides liking this work it also offers me independence and flexibility, and free multi-media content!

Every year I vow never to work another New Years Eve, but I do. So I'll endeavour to capture plenty of footage over the weekend and knock out a video on my new editing suite. A Happy New Year to all.

[ian]

All the best Adrian... I've been away so hope ya had a good, ie paying, Christmas and ya don't meet too many of those d/heads on NYE. Cheers for a prosperous NY.

[taxi pensacola beach]

Been driving a cab for 4 years and New Years Eve, as lucrative as it can be, rarely meets my expectations. Its starts out with our computer system getting overloaded and we have to go to radio. (if you are not used to using radio it is a total cluster F**k) for a driver. Since there is such a bottle neck created with calls, you are getting calls that are sometimes one hour old. I am nearing the end of my shift and of course the last call is a guy flagging me down and telling me he's got to round up the rest of the group. One guy gets in the cab while his buddy searches for "marlene". Marlene eventually shows up and then another girlfriend appears. Her boyfriend happens to be the guy looking for marlene and now a search is started for the boyfriend. After 15 minutes of these shenanigans the boyfriend makes his way back and gets in a fight with marlene and they decide they want to take a cab. The remaining three passengers had to go about a few blocks, a $3.25 fare.

[James.]

Some people are just horrid.
I just hope lady Karma is a real bitch and charges a hefty interest.

[Rainer the cabbie]

WTF Adrian ?
I appreciate you being busy, but it wouldn't hurt to have a look once in a while to get rid of the spam.
I just wish that the drivers writing crap on toilet walls would subscribe to this alphabet to purvey their message, it'll stop me farting loudly.

[adrian]

Thanks, Rainer, consider it done.