I met Kevin ‘the boss’ in a taxi this morning, when he took me to the train station. He used to co-own Premier Taxis in Sandiacre, Derbyshire, with Tony Roe and I went to work for them as a weekend night driver between 1994 and 1998.
In just over five minutes, he filled me in with his life to date and I remembered how much can be found out about someone in such a short space of time and the importance of making an instant connection with the customer. Journalists can learn a lot from taxi drivers, in the context of a news story and getting information from someone you may only meet for a very short time is a useful skill.
Kevin told me he heard the world from his car and my former experience as a taxi driver would agree. He got, he said, the credit crunch stories from people who lost their jobs, the bosses forced to lay off staff and those struggling with falling interest rates.
After selling his share in Premier Taxis, Kevin became the manager at a Derby bus company but began to disagree with some of their practices and so turned full circle. Going back into taxis as a driver rather than the boss, he could ‘leave the stress behind’ and go to work, do his job and go home.
Erewash Borough Council, the area Kev drives in, requires a taxi driver to have an almost clean driving licence, full CRB check, a medical and a ‘knowledge’ test to check how well they know the area. There are unwritten skills which, in other professions, would need a university degree or diploma at least. Some passengers like to talk. It could be current affairs, sport, or acting as counsellor in domestic fallouts or personal hurts; listening to someone’s worries at the loss of their job; talking sport. Sometimes getting fed pizza, chips or offered fags. On occasions, the driver could be somebody’s last hope of ‘pulling’ that night. Oh, for a fiver for every non enticing invitation to call back at the end of the shift. In my four years as a night driver, I also saw the world, as Kevin has. Taxi drivers can be best mate or invisible. Every kind of possible domestic relationship is played out in the back of a car. Tears, tantrums and tender moment, even physical fights.
We take for granted the jobs people do but, having been in taxis as both driver and passenger, there is a story in everyone. Talk to the driver, the hairdresser, barber, shop assistant. Everyone has a story to tell. Does anyone, I wonder, ask the driver what theirs is?
As with a writer putting in that last full stop and pressing ‘send’, tonight Kevin ‘the boss’ will turn off the engine, get out of his car and go home. Job done.
In just over five minutes, he filled me in with his life to date and I remembered how much can be found out about someone in such a short space of time and the importance of making an instant connection with the customer. Journalists can learn a lot from taxi drivers, in the context of a news story and getting information from someone you may only meet for a very short time is a useful skill.
Kevin told me he heard the world from his car and my former experience as a taxi driver would agree. He got, he said, the credit crunch stories from people who lost their jobs, the bosses forced to lay off staff and those struggling with falling interest rates.
After selling his share in Premier Taxis, Kevin became the manager at a Derby bus company but began to disagree with some of their practices and so turned full circle. Going back into taxis as a driver rather than the boss, he could ‘leave the stress behind’ and go to work, do his job and go home.
Erewash Borough Council, the area Kev drives in, requires a taxi driver to have an almost clean driving licence, full CRB check, a medical and a ‘knowledge’ test to check how well they know the area. There are unwritten skills which, in other professions, would need a university degree or diploma at least. Some passengers like to talk. It could be current affairs, sport, or acting as counsellor in domestic fallouts or personal hurts; listening to someone’s worries at the loss of their job; talking sport. Sometimes getting fed pizza, chips or offered fags. On occasions, the driver could be somebody’s last hope of ‘pulling’ that night. Oh, for a fiver for every non enticing invitation to call back at the end of the shift. In my four years as a night driver, I also saw the world, as Kevin has. Taxi drivers can be best mate or invisible. Every kind of possible domestic relationship is played out in the back of a car. Tears, tantrums and tender moment, even physical fights.
We take for granted the jobs people do but, having been in taxis as both driver and passenger, there is a story in everyone. Talk to the driver, the hairdresser, barber, shop assistant. Everyone has a story to tell. Does anyone, I wonder, ask the driver what theirs is?
As with a writer putting in that last full stop and pressing ‘send’, tonight Kevin ‘the boss’ will turn off the engine, get out of his car and go home. Job done.
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