Red Flutterby

Time for some bitching! :D

Was watching the news, on comes the story of today's cabbie forum.
They were going on about how badly they get treated, how everyone is racists towards them, how they don't get any respect, etc, etc.

Have they actually stopped to wonder why the stereotype of them is so bad???

I've had cab drivers who don't know how to get to and from the airport.
"Blackburn. Take Citylink"
"Ok"
...approach turn off to Flemington Rd....pass turn off to Flemington Rd....
"Uh, you were supposed to turn there. Eastern Freeway."
"Huh? Oh, I thought you meant take the tunnel."
"No! That's too far south!"

My brother has had a driver who can't drive. Uses the accelerator and brake like buttons. Either on or off; no in gradual between.

Even the people who answer the phone are bad at what they do. Take the phone conversation I had no more than 1 hour ago:
"Address?"
"----censored----"
"Are you ready?"
"...Sorry what was that?"
"Are you ready?"
"Pardon?"
"I said are you ready? I'm speaking in English. How can it not be clear?"
"'Am I ready' as in when do I want to picked up?"
"Yes."
"I'd like to be picked up tomorrow morning."
"Then no, you're not ready."
WTF?!?!?!?! Could you pose that question in a more confusing manner?? Wouldn't it make more sense to ask the direct question of "When would you like to be picked up?"

I'm sorry to say, I've only had 1 good cab driver in Melbourne this year...and he was white. Coincidence? Possibly.
He checked with me whether it was ok to take the freeway. When we hit heavy traffic on Hoddle St he asked which way I wanted to go, Swan St or Toorak Rd.
"Whichever way is quickest."
"Ok, Toorak Rd. Ideally, we'd want to turn at Swan St but it'll be difficult to turn there in peak hour traffic so Toorak might be faster."
Then when he saw a gap to turn at Swan St, he took it, "That was lucky!"

Notice the difference in communication??

So, until the level of service is fixed, I don't think cabbies should complain much about lack of respect from the general public.
I'm all for the protective barriers though, cos there are some fucked up psychos out there.

(Thus far I've only refered to Melbourne taxis cos Launceston and Brisbane have smaller cab populations (and are smaller cities) which are pretty much all anglo/caucasian. Will give verdict on Sydney's cabbies when I return.)