If You Can Hack It, Being a Cab Driver is Addictive!

Hey - here's an idea! Why not roll out of bed promptly at 4:30 AM tomorrow and spend the next ten hours in a life-and-death battle with city traffic, encased in a rattling, unfamiliar car that guzzles gas like water? Even better, do it with your ear glued for most of those ten hours to a radio that emits nothing but an endless drone of addresses, one of which might actually be meant for you. But wait - there's more! You'll get to dodge busses, delivery trucks, obnoxious, lousy drivers and careless pedestrians while keeping an ever vigilant eye out for the cops. Then, out of frustration, you can pick up people that radiate severe personal hygiene issues, or who take you to parts of town that you'd have never gone to even on a double-dog dare.

Sounds great doesn't it? Well, maybe not, but if you can get past all of that plus the occasional stretches that will be both totally boring and tiresome as well as sometimes downright scary, driving a cab is actually an absolute gas.

Oh yes, and if you put aside the hours, which in most major cities will range from ten to twelve a shift for as many days as you want to hit the road, the life of a cabbie can be rewarding and fascinating to the point of addiction.

Like most jobs, the more you master it, the more you enjoy it. The driver who doesn't learn the ropes quickly probably won't last long and certainly won't make much money, so let's talk about those ropes. They include picking up such skills as safe and efficient driving to a degree you didn't think possible, and learning to treat every fare like a valued customer who could well compensate you far beyond the fare on the meter, all because of your great personality, endless knowledge, and awesome driving skills. Also, of course, you'll have to learn to navigate your city like a cat does the backyards of his own neighborhood.

Do all this and you'll realize the immensely satisfying payoff of discovering the valuable shortcuts, the dives, the bistros, the best restaurants, the strange little neighborhoods tucked away in places you'd never suspect, the latest and coolest happenings, and the myriad miscellaneous surprises that every big town has to offer. You will start off knowing hardly any of this of course, but it eventually begins to roll in. You'll discover that almost every fare will teach you something new and valuable, something you can pass on to the next one who climbs aboard. Before you know it, the only others who know more than you about your town will be other cabbies.

And then there is the endless flow of humanity! You will experience and be entertained by nearly every possible type of human there is, and in the short time they are a guest in your taxi you can either be their audience or they can be yours. The constant possibilities of chemistry (both good and bad) are about as intriguing as you could possibly desire. Oh, the stories they'll provide you! If a cab driver doesn't leave his profession with an accumulation of experience and a bag of anecdotes to rival an encyclopedia, he must not have been at it for very long!

What about the "common knowledge" that cabbies are the worst drivers on the streets? Well, you may think it's common knowledge but you can immediately flush it right down the nearest ceramic bowl-like fixture because nothing could be farther from the truth. Sure, some few might deserve that brand, but most drivers simply won't succeed at the profession if they don't learn to be not only the most efficient drivers on the streets but the safest and wisest as well. Once you learn to drive like a pro, you'll probably drive that way the rest of your life - you just know too much to go back to being a normal driver.

If you can find something better to do with your time, go for it. But if you need a job that can usually pay a living wage and get you through to the other side, hacking is definitely worth considering. Your workmates will be a collection of independent, unique characters who are likely there for the same reason you are: to get by until they publish their novel, or until their acting or photography or other freelance career finally takes off. Sure, the getting up at 4:30 AM for the day shift or the finishing of the night shift at 2:30 AM sucks and will turn your social life inside out, but for the hours you're on the job you are free to do what you want and go where you want, just as long as you get the car back to the garage in time for the next driver. Is driving a cab a great thing to do? You bet it is but, just between you and me, it's also a great thing to have done!