Trawlerman and tree feller were next. Based on safety, stress, hours of work, qualifications etc.
Doing the knowledge is a challenge but the job itself doesn't look too stressful when I see all the black cabs parked up at Austin Lodge Golf Course................
cabbying is one of those jobs that fits the saying you get out what you put in. If you put the hours in, you'll generally do ok, but its certainly not the path of gold that many believe it to be.
Much more beneficial if you work nights, yet you have to deal with people drunk, sick, abusive and sometimes violent. My grandad was stabbed in the back for example.
Days mean sitting in traffic all day, in summer confinded to a box that is like a sauna. Driving in London is incredibly difficult now due to the speed cams and yellow boxes.
Every time you have a day off, you don't get a penny, and health insurance is so ridiculous that many can't afford it. Diesel is a lot more expensive these days. It can also be an incredibly lonely job, particularly now they have to have the window between passengers and driver shut off for safety reasons.
My next door neighbour is a cabbie and he absolutley loves it. He goes to work as and when it suits him, he gets to meet lots of different people (He can talk the hind legs off a donkey) and judging the the extension he has just built he isn't short of a bob or two.
Arf, they always say this ol tripe! Its a good ploy to put people off of doin the knowledge as the more cabbies the less money to go around. (obviously Arf you know this fact, i am tellin the others)!
Granted, you never see a poor cabbie. I know this one cabbie geezer, he is minted, always bangin on about how rubbish its been for '10 years now'
This cab driver took me from Hyde Park to charing cross and he complained all the way on how poor he is moan, moan moan etc.....He then charged be £15 for the trip (caught in traffic). Day light robbery, well it was night time so... night time robbery.
Some years ago, when I was but a young man I was invited to a very swish party at the Cafe Royal by a client.
Now I do ask you to remember that I have already stated it was sometime ago when (and this will mean something to those who have met me) there was cosiderably less of me than is the case now, and when I still had the stamina for such things.
Anyhow, at this party I met a very nice young lady who at the time was on telly a good deal and as the evening progressed we got along just fine. Actually better than fine, to the extent that I left her hotel in the wee small hours. Just drinks you understand, and a little fellow feeling and she was on the rebound and I was still caring enough to provide a shoulder etc.
I decided to push my luck, hailed a Cab in Park Lane and asked, "any chance of getting me back to Bexley?", normally the kiss of death in any London taxi related conversation. To my surprise the answer came "Yes mate get in... you'll be doing me a right favour".
There was no conversation for a while until said Cabby slid the window back and asked," is your wife called xxxxx," "yes" says I, "how did you guess ?"
"Oh, it weren't a guess", came the response, "my daughter is in your daughter's class at school, I see xxxx in the playground most mornings and you picked your girl up from my girls birthday party last week."
Now some people call me a pessimist, but consider this, out of 27,000 Black Cab drivers in London, I get the only one who not only knows my missus, recognises me, knows my child and all on the one day in my married life I have got anywhere near to playing away or wanting to!
People still ask me why I don't play the lottery - with that kind of luck would you ?
Recently had a similar but very different experience with a late night, long distance cab.
Was coming back from Hammersmith to Embankment following a client evening out and managed to fall asleep on the last tube, only to be woken up in Upminster! A bit of an issue at 1am+ when I live in Sidcup.
Anyway managed to flag down a black cab and convinced this guy to take home by offering a £10 tip and asked him how much he thought it would be "Bout 80 sheets guvnar"... Happy with that, and in the warm comfortable surrounding of the cab, I needless to say promptly fell asleep again and then, what seemed seconds later, was woken up by the cabbie on Sidcup High Street asking me where to go from there.
As we pulled up in front of the house the guy turned around and said "190 quid please mate"......
Anyway he didn't get £190 quid from me, even though he said he'd got lost and had spent 20 mins of the journey yelling at me to wake up, to which I responded that he was the cabbie and should have know his way to Sidcup (something along the lines of "Its not difficult FFS! Around the big concrete thing called the M25, over the big thing cunningly disguised as a bridge, back along the big concrete thing called the M25 and then down the slightly smaller concrete thing called the A20").
He got the option of taking £90 and being happy with it or sitting outside my house in the cold for a few hours, whilst I went to bed, waiting for the OB to turn up.
Just shows there are gooduns and baduns amongst every walk of life
[cite]Posted By: 04 MCS[/cite]JW, did the cabbie bubble ya?
No bless him, I've since got to know him well and truth to tell it was actually his missus that eventually did the off having been playing away whilst he was working nights.
Industrial action! Without bothering to know what they're protesting about, I'll call them worthless twats if they're personally inconveniencing me, and heroic freedom-fighters if they're not! That's how it works, right?
Had a cracking one take me from Euston to Enfield last week weds eve , turned out to be an addick who used to help run the jr reds great stories nice journey home hope he reads on here
They want to pick up tourists from the new London Bridge station exit on Tooley Street and are protesting against not being allowed to drive around there in some way. I dunno.
Whatever. Cabs are pricey and I try to avoid them for the most part. But this sort of protest is a bit much, surely?
cabbying is one of those jobs that fits the saying you get out what you put in. If you put the hours in, you'll generally do ok, but its certainly not the path of gold that many believe it to be.
Much more beneficial if you work nights, yet you have to deal with people drunk, sick, abusive and sometimes violent. My grandad was stabbed in the back for example.
Days mean sitting in traffic all day, in summer confinded to a box that is like a sauna. Driving in London is incredibly difficult now due to the speed cams and yellow boxes.
Every time you have a day off, you don't get a penny, and health insurance is so ridiculous that many can't afford it. Diesel is a lot more expensive these days. It can also be an incredibly lonely job, particularly now they have to have the window between passengers and driver shut off for safety reasons.
I can point out that although this is technically true it’s not quite what it seems. The meter fares are set by TFL. The fare is set and takes into consideration not just a wage but amongst other things like running costs, holiday pay etc etc.
Several black cab drivers post on here. One of them is a very close friend of mine. Their job is getting harder by the day. I know where my loyalties lie.
Comments
What other jobs are there that they compared it too?
Along with the story about Slavery etc.
Cab drivers do get payed enough though for all their supposed troubles.
Doing the knowledge is a challenge but the job itself doesn't look too stressful when I see all the black cabs parked up at Austin Lodge Golf Course................
but they do get paid v well for it & their own boss etc
i hate being sober when everyone else is hammered
Much more beneficial if you work nights, yet you have to deal with people drunk, sick, abusive and sometimes violent. My grandad was stabbed in the back for example.
Days mean sitting in traffic all day, in summer confinded to a box that is like a sauna. Driving in London is incredibly difficult now due to the speed cams and yellow boxes.
Every time you have a day off, you don't get a penny, and health insurance is so ridiculous that many can't afford it. Diesel is a lot more expensive these days. It can also be an incredibly lonely job, particularly now they have to have the window between passengers and driver shut off for safety reasons.
1. You never hear of or see a poor cabbie
2. If the game is dead why don't they give it up.
Granted, you never see a poor cabbie. I know this one cabbie geezer, he is minted, always bangin on about how rubbish its been for '10 years now'
Now I do ask you to remember that I have already stated it was sometime ago when (and this will mean something to those who have met me) there was cosiderably less of me than is the case now, and when I still had the stamina for such things.
Anyhow, at this party I met a very nice young lady who at the time was on telly a good deal and as the evening progressed we got along just fine. Actually better than fine, to the extent that I left her hotel in the wee small hours. Just drinks you understand, and a little fellow feeling and she was on the rebound and I was still caring enough to provide a shoulder etc.
I decided to push my luck, hailed a Cab in Park Lane and asked, "any chance of getting me back to Bexley?", normally the kiss of death in any London taxi related conversation. To my surprise the answer came "Yes mate get in... you'll be doing me a right favour".
There was no conversation for a while until said Cabby slid the window back and asked," is your wife called xxxxx," "yes" says I, "how did you guess ?"
"Oh, it weren't a guess", came the response, "my daughter is in your daughter's class at school, I see xxxx in the playground most mornings and you picked your girl up from my girls birthday party last week."
Now some people call me a pessimist, but consider this, out of 27,000 Black Cab drivers in London, I get the only one who not only knows my missus, recognises me, knows my child and all on the one day in my married life I have got anywhere near to playing away or wanting to!
People still ask me why I don't play the lottery - with that kind of luck would you ?
Recently had a similar but very different experience with a late night, long distance cab.
Was coming back from Hammersmith to Embankment following a client evening out and managed to fall asleep on the last tube, only to be woken up in Upminster! A bit of an issue at 1am+ when I live in Sidcup.
Anyway managed to flag down a black cab and convinced this guy to take home by offering a £10 tip and asked him how much he thought it would be "Bout 80 sheets guvnar"... Happy with that, and in the warm comfortable surrounding of the cab, I needless to say promptly fell asleep again and then, what seemed seconds later, was woken up by the cabbie on Sidcup High Street asking me where to go from there.
As we pulled up in front of the house the guy turned around and said "190 quid please mate"......
Anyway he didn't get £190 quid from me, even though he said he'd got lost and had spent 20 mins of the journey yelling at me to wake up, to which I responded that he was the cabbie and should have know his way to Sidcup (something along the lines of "Its not difficult FFS! Around the big concrete thing called the M25, over the big thing cunningly disguised as a bridge, back along the big concrete thing called the M25 and then down the slightly smaller concrete thing called the A20").
He got the option of taking £90 and being happy with it or sitting outside my house in the cold for a few hours, whilst I went to bed, waiting for the OB to turn up.
Just shows there are gooduns and baduns amongst every walk of life
No bless him, I've since got to know him well and truth to tell it was actually his missus that eventually did the off having been playing away whilst he was working nights.
Just goes to show eh.
London bridge completely fuc*d!
Good luck to them.
Whatever. Cabs are pricey and I try to avoid them for the most part. But this sort of protest is a bit much, surely?
They get my support (as someone who is currently not caught in traffic in central London!)
One of them is a very close friend of mine.
Their job is getting harder by the day.
I know where my loyalties lie.