I Wish I Could Be a ... TAXI DRIVER ... for a Day

Have you ever wondered... yes you, sitting behind the computer, typing inanely... if you weren't a cubicle monkey, what other jobs you could have taken? I don't know if it's just me but i'm naive enough to think that non-desk jobs have the simple appeal of being AWAY from a desk.

True. People who aren't in desk jobs are probably cursing the cushiness of those of us who are.. but i often wonder if i would have the pluck for Another Job. So, onwards a new string of RandomThots filled with naive perceptions of what another occupation would be like. I dub thee:

'What I Might've Been If I'd Grown Up...' a.k.a 'I Wish I Could Be in These Shoes for a Day'

Today's occupation is none other than the street savvy, sharp-mouthed Taxi driver. Staple of all good sitcoms (particularly, i have in mind Ranjeet from HIMYM... gah aaron, you got me addicted), a key figure in action-packed movies (Driver, follow that car!), serendipitious tool in rom coms (the same taxi driver will help you realise, as you're talking to him, how perfect that girl really was for you) and often the guy who waves his fist in the air and curses as the hero runs recklessly across the street, chasing the girl of his dreams. (I watch too many movies, huh?)

So, why a taxi driver? Not so much that I see myself as the catalyst for all great movies, but for some pretty boring reasons actually.

1. Can you imagine the navigational skills you'd have after a week behind the wheel? Owh yeah, who needs a GPS when you have shortcuts tattooed in your brain?
2. I love talking. I love pretending i know how to psychoanalyse people. Imagine just sitting on your ass all day and ferrying people around while getting to pick their brains about what they are doing and why. Here's some insight from this news article:
   "You deal with 50 to 60 people a night, from drunks to drug users to NASA people to lawyers to drunk doctors," he said. "If you drive long enough, you'll meet every kind of person there is. You get people in here who think you're lower than them because you're driving a cab. You have to get them out of here quick or put them in their place quick. You never know who you'll meet in a cab." He said though he does not plan to drive a cab for much longer, he enjoys it now because of all the people and the experience. "Cab drivers are basically counselors, mobile bartenders," he said. "If we could serve drinks in here, we'd be rich."
3. A lot of cabs smell foul and look fouler. I'd like to be the car-proud cabbie who will go the extra mile by offering a wet wipe on a hot day. Plus, i'll get to brainwash people into liking my music. Come on, you know you've heard crappy music in cabs before, right?
   
4. This would probably be a good way to find out where the best everything is. "Oh, you are going there to eat satay? It's good huh? Should try someday. What else do you recommend?" There... food makes the world go round.
5. I also like imagining things. So imagine how much fun i'd have making up the life stories of the fares that I pick up? Until the day i REALLY get a serial killer in the cab...
   
6. You get to be on a radio all the time! *static buzz* Guys, you wanna catch a movie after this shift? Yeah? Meet me at the cinema at 8 *static out* Okay.. probably not, but if you were in a really liberal taxi company?
   
7. There's something cool about being part of a gang that extends throughout the city streets and whom you can catch up with at taxi stands? Good to know they got my back, man.
   
8. Changing scenery. ALL THE TIME.

Yea yea... probably more than a week in traffic and i'll want to tear my hair out. But one has got to dream that there are other things to do in life. So, even if it doesn't make you want to quit and take a different career path, at least you might be a bit more considerate the next time you hop in that iconic yellow car (well, red and white in KL i guess) and remember to tip your driver! (if he uses the meter that is).

If you'd like more insight into the cabbie life, i stumbled upon this blog which is pretty much just cabbies ranting about their days. Interesting peek into the taxi world.