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Today I’m wondering what type of people taxi drivers hate carrying so let’s find out!
Conor: So, here we are and we are in the taxi business which is pretty interesting. Tell me what`s your name?
Taxi Driver: Liam.
Conor: Cool, so gosh what’s taxi driving like in general as work?
What do you think?
Taxi Driver: It’s good, it’s good you can do come and go as you please yeah okay take a day off when you want yeah pick up the couple of kids from school you know.
Conor: Regarding children when you pick them up from school do they have to pay for their lift home?
Taxi Driver: No ( laughing)
Conor: So like how many years are you at it?
Taxi Driver: I`m only five months like yeah a couple of months well a couple of months driving at it.
Conor: And what’s the difference or do you work like obviously were you’re in the day now and its a lovely day? Whats it like working at night.
Taxi Driver: I don’t do nights. You get a lot of messers and stuff I have no
interest in that. Nightlife is different than daylight yeah. I
usually start about 7:00AM or before it in the morning until three or four pm in the afternoon Conor: Okay so you get the whatever 40 hours a week?
Taxi Driver: I do say fifty hours a week.
Conor: What about traffic then?
Taxi Driver: It’s part of the business you know yeah when you’re driving you’re being paid yeah traffic makes no difference to me because I’m being paid you know it’s on the clock is ticking over as we can see.
Conor: I`ve heard jokes, I’ve definitely heard things about you know taxi drivers, hairdressers etc that they have great knowledge of . They have a great knowhow because you know they’re spend the time with all different types of people?
Taxi Driver: I`ve worked in bars and worked in restaurants and worked in shops well that’s it and I know people all my life you can see them a mile a way coming. You can see them come and look anybody that’s that’s dealing with people every day the week, if they can’t they’re there they’re in the wrong game. If they can see and if they can’t deal with people and they can’t see what people are like. People are like waking up the street towards me and is there other than kind of seeing the good or bad in people is there something nice about mixing with people true oh yeah it’s it’s um it’s different. I’ve never mind every day every five minutes is different yeah you can get people there they bore you to tears with talk you can get the other customers that’ll just sit there and say nothing. You know literally every job is different completely different yeah.
Conor: You’ve worked in a variety things with people and what would you say in general like a generalization, what is work for you?
Taxi Driver: You know, working in life oh no now there’s the six million dollar question! it’s a means to get by as far as I’m concerned okay. I mean, I don’t want to be rich. I don’t want to be poor. If I have enough, to save a few Bob and put my kids through college after or the college when they get that far or if they don’t I’d have a few Bob in the bank for myself.
Conor: But then again, you did mention six million dollars has like that amount of money or excessive amount of money is that really the main thing to do with work. Is there other aspects?
Taxi Driver: No not for me, no not for me. Not for me, it’s a means to an end it’s a means to an end you’re born you’re die. What happens in between this you know that’s not big money no no and I have no interest in and and big money. If it did I`d work nights so what about like you know.
Conor: You’ve worked with you know a lot of people in a lot of different jobs and you know generally when you’re working shifts or whatever you’re doing you’re looking at different types of people they do different types of work and they probably sit back at times and go gosh I wonder if I was a banker or I wonder if I was poor or whatever it is like what does work give people in general? do you think?
Taxi Driver: It depends on your own opinion. For me, work is literally a means to an end. I get very little satisfaction out of it but that would be the same as if I was a multi-millionaire. It’s you know it’s a mindset yeah, I work because I’m after work. Okay, it’s like who’s
my favourite football team? I don’t really have a football team you know, ok if Liverpool were playing I’d support them. If they weren’t really bothered and even if they were playing it wouldn’t really bother me. If they win or loss I’m not a television sports fan. I like it nbecasue it relaxes me. It, like golf is a bit of crack. A bit of fun. I like it because it’s good fun. But as far as following or just say playing golf or even you know today it’s a bit of crack and banter and yeah with people and stuff. I mean this for me is a better crack yeah because you know I’m not taking it too seriously people get into my car driving for me to be if they’ll have the crack. I’ll have the crack of it yeah I won’t you know.
Conor: I always wonder about a taxi driver like as you said sometimes maybe at night if it’s quiet or if it’s quite day or whatever you know if it’s a really nice day and if you’re in a place where there is you know a lot of taxis and there is competition at that particular time to get people. I always wonder like sometimes you might have to choose a not so nice person. It might be tricky even a long journey?
Taxi Driver: You can refuse a fair if it’s over 30 kilometers but anything under 30 kilometers you kind of calculated there’s no point really which is okay like, unless you have a bad feeling that he’s drunk or can’t afford to pay you know in general. You approach every topic on the world’s with certain individuals .You know within within 30 seconds whether somebody wants to talk to you or whether they don’t want to talk to you whether they’re religious are not religious or whether they’re an alcoholic or not an alcoholic you know within a minute and it is some journey.
Conor: Do you prefer to be on some longer journeys than shorter journeys?
Taxi Driver: Everyone’s different although I do dislike taking religious people okay because they just go on and on and on but it’s like you know they get offended when you tell them you don’t believe in God or whatever and it’s like so you don’t believe in God? then ‘no I don’t’ okay .
Conor: What do you think obviously you’ve spoken to a lot of religious people or people strong in a religion in their beliefs, like, what is this in general?
Taxi Driver: They’re trying to have this insane belief that they were born with that they are right and it’s like the Trump supporters. It doesn’t matter what you tell them they are ‘right’ all right. It’s like Trump said himself – lf he could go out and stand on Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and people would still like him, it makes no difference they’ve just got this cognitive dissonance that they are right that there doesn’t matter okay, what do you tell them. You know, you’re telling them that he has done something really bad and they’re still gonna believe that he’s brilliant okay. Do you know what I mean? it’s just people are, they`re happy just following him .
Conor: What do you think Trump or God or both?
Taxi Driver: Both, either. They think they’re doing the right thing but let them off! but if a person doesn’t say for example believe in a god or goddess or whatever and or anything like that’s like how can they feel possibly happy or in a better way. Look because you realize that this is it! you have one life that’s it okay.
Conor: So you don’t have that safety?
Taxi Driver: No but there is no safety. You have your life and you’re born you get to the end of it you die that’s it okay. We become space dust again okay? No, that’s it.
Conor: So you think then that’s basically It. What is happiness then?
Taxi Driver: It can be immaterial and happiness is a state of mind. Some days you’re happy some days you’re say okay that doesn’t mean you’re sad and some days when you wakes up, what happens to the next I don’t know. It can obviously it can change not only day today but throughout today. You know you can wake up in a crap mood and somebody will say something here and you you’re happy for the rest of the day and t I mean you know that’s just how people are.
Conor: How do people influence like everybody?
Taxi Driver: Everybody you meet influences your day. Everybody you meet, so give me a bad person they can throw you down but it doesn’t mean everybody especially in this game. But you’ve got to take everybody with a pinch of salt. When you’re dealing with people every day.
Conor: What is golden question or whatever as you say ‘the six million dollar’ what’s the ten dollar question or the one hundred million dollar one, as Gay Byrne once said ‘What is the secret to life then or is there a secret?
Taxi Driver: There isn’t, just get on with it. I’ll just get on with it as life will deal you some good and some bad. You just gotta get on with it and play along yeah you know? and in less than a hundred years we’ll all be dead anyway so, no matter what you do it makes no difference. Look at Michael O’ Leary the multi-millionaire. He’s still gonna be dead. He can’t take all that money with him. You can’t take it with you and if you can get through life and have enough money to get through life and support your kids.
Conor:And well, that’s a good thing fora sure that’s a very productive thing.
Taxi Driver: That’s all I need anyway.
Conor: You’re passing it on. Wonderful! thanks a million for chatting.
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