A Cabbies Day

[Aussie]

I have started to write again under that Title........over at my place. Here is the latest episode.......it has some relevance here.

We have an odd relationship with people in our circle of acquaintance… (leaving family and personal friends aside,) ….. they come in many different varieties and in different quadrants of that circle. In another ‘life,’ I have had the professional obligation to act for those having a disability, including successfully ‘defending’ a deaf and ‘dumb’ bloke who killed a jeweller in that jeweller’s work shop in a back alley in Rockhampton many years ago. I have had the same professional obligation to successfully ‘attack’ a downs syndrome female who had accused a non-handicapped person of sexually assaulting her.

Some things like that cannot be ignored.

In this ‘life’ as a Cabbie, I meet many with a much more diverse range of handicaps both physical and mental, and I do what they require of me, which is to successfully take them from point A to point B. It is necessary to inter-act with them in many ways……from not engaging, to actively encouraging conversation during that journey. With some, the best method is to simply ignore their presence in the Cab, as any other approach may dangerously distract me from my prime function which is to get them to where they need to go, safely.

I have a regular…..Harry (not his real name) whose ‘normal’ life was destroyed when he was a child in a motor vehicle accident. I have written about him previously, about two years or so, ago. Because of the manner in which I have engaged with him, he will now only use me as his Cabbie. When I first met him, I ignored him when he was in the Cab. I thought it best to do so.

These days, Harry is a mature 30ish adult in part time work doing menial office administration functions. His conversation capacity suggests he is quite okay…superficially, but having known him now for a couple of years, I can see the weakness there. The injuries he sustained in that accident have left him with a severe disability, mentally and particularly physically. He is blind in one eye, his left arm is useless, his left leg has limited function, he has epilepsy, and suffers from seemingly uncontrollable twitches. His general sense of well being is usually okay, but he has days when the epilepsy gets the better of him, and he bails out of his work commitment.

But……the bugger is a competitor. He is training his arse off to make the London Para-Olympics as a sprinter, and while I hope he makes it…..I doubt he can. My scepticism will not stop him having a go. He is a very fit bloke, you know the type…..muscled…..taut guts……but, just badly debilitated down the left side.

As time went by with him, I learned that he enjoys actively discussing his numerous disabilities. He also likes to think he knows mine, and he is right about one. I too, am a competitor.

He knows I play golf every Saturday at the same time and at the same course each week. I know he occasionally plays golf with his mates…using just his right arm, and he has never been shy telling me how bloody good he reckons he is at one arm golf. That right arm of his is very powerfully constructed.

Our relationship has reached the point where I no longer merely ignore his weaknesses, and he does not ignore mine. Now, we mercilessly take the piss out of each other, but I am always vigilant, wary not to push him too far, because I do not know what his tolerance levels really are, given there is an unknown to me, and that is…..what will turn the switch in his head.

Here is where I need to tell you about Willy. He is a downs syndrome bloke, about 50 years of age. The most vivacious character you are ever likely to meet. Each time he gets in the Cab, I am always met with a broad grin, and a “How ya going maaaaaate…..can yer help with this,” referring to his many small eskies, and shopping bags he carries every day with him. Probably some sort of ‘security blanket,’ but who knows. Willy has never addressed this in my direction, but I have seen it happen with the carers who help him where he lives, and who oversee his entry into the Cab. If a ‘wrong’ word is spoken, that affable outwardly friendly bloke turns into the most vicious verbally abusive person you are ever likely to meet. It is like a switch is turned on. I have known Willy much longer than Harry, but I am not at all confident I have any idea what his tolerance levels are, so apart from normal friendly greeting and polite, but reserved exchanges, I pretty much ignore him, and how he ‘deals’ with other people. Others who observe how I ‘deal’ with him would probably accuse me of being sympathetic to his abuse of those who actually care for him in every sense of the word, but that is to mis-read my management of what I am confronted with, and what my function is. We all have to ‘deal’ with all sorts of people, wot?

Back to Harry. Today, at 6.00 am, we hit off on the 10th Tee for nine holes.

For 18 months, Harry has been pestering me (noooo…..challenging me……with ‘I will beat your sorry arse’) for a game of golf. His rules…I have to play with one arm…the right arm. I had been politely ignoring it, because I reckoned he really will whip me, given he plays with one arm often enough, and I still have two good ones which I always use. But, I gave in about a week ago, and agreed to a game. From the very moment of that agreement, he has been right up me about my fate at his hands……all one of them he kept reminding me…and the best I could give back was to tell him that if he ‘twitched’ over a putt, and hit the ball, I would insist on counting it as a putt. He loved that.

So, there we were today, 6.00 am on the 10th. We played the nine holes, and there were golf clubs and a putter flying all over the place, and I managed to dodge them all. The bugger was good, very good, very aggro…but…..I had an advantage which overcame the handicap I had of having to use just one arm. I knew the course, and all the greens. He did get to the greens for much less than me……...but he could not putt for shit. One flaw to his game, but a vital one. Having one eye, he had no consistent or reliable perception of length within the confines of a golf green.

We all suffer from a lack of perception on one kind or another, and while it is there to be seen by others, it can easily be ignored by them.

[Super Nova]

Aussie,

I like you cabbie stories. Keep them up.

It is clear that you come across a wide variety people, interesting people that I don't meet in my daily life. It appears you provide an important service and develop real relationships with them that they value.

In my experience, the sort of things you describe indicate you may be a nice person and the type of cabbie I like and return to again and again.

Merry xmas.

[The Artist formerly known as Sappho]

Cabbies tell the best stories... I know... I use cabs a lot. I hope you keep this thread alive Aussie... It was always a fav amongst the Animals.

[mantra]

I haven't had to catch cabs for many years, but I broke my foot a couple of months ago and relied on them quite heavily for a few weeks. I found the male cabbies to be kinder and more helpful than the females in every way.

You don't think much about a good service until you have to use one. A little bit of consideration makes a huge difference if you're not able bodied. Women generally are supposed to be the thoughtful gender, but not if they're cabbies it seems.

So what do you think of female cab drivers generally Aussie?

[mellie]

Ok.... you twisted my arm, I'll share my weird cabbie experience.

There was this guy who when he saw my name come up over the system, (Premier Cabs put them up until a driver accepts them within a certain area) who would pounce on it straight away, whenever he saw my name come up, so that every single time I called a cab, day or evening , he would be who picked me up.

It took a few times and another cabbie to alert me to the fact that this guy was intentionally making sure it was him who provided me with a ride, and when he would, he'd often give it to me for $5 ..(Normally it would cost $10 -$12) this and I often had to wait until he was finished dropping off another customer...(He's supposed to leave it on the system for another cabbie if he's too far away) anyway, it creeped me out a bit, so I started booking cabs under a different name each time, that was the end of Ralph the Cabbie.



Apart from this, I have found cabbies to be quite nice, this and quite helpful also...helpful bringing shopping bags to the veranda from the boot of the cab etc.

Ralph was quite helpful, I'm sure he would have helped me into bed, or into the shower if I had have given him the go-ahead.


I certainly hope you don't do this too Aussey.

[IQS.RLOW]

So you are capable of providing interesting posts when you take a breather from being a cockhead

[Bart]

It's advertising to try and lure you to his own forum.
There he can obtain your IP.

[mellie]

It's advertising to try and lure you to his own forum.
There he can obtain your IP.

Spot on.

I suggest no one here enters any forum that's been placed on this board by specific members.

If you must, use something like http://hidemyass.com/ and type the address to his board in manually ..but even then, I'm not taking chances, I have heard some are capable of sniffing out peoples real IP's behind proxies of this nature, so unless you know what you are doing, don't take chances.

This is why I'm not.

[skippy]

Thats the best most interesting post I've ever seen you make aussie, pity you spend so much energy time and effort on being an asshole.

[Aussie]

*woosh*