TAXI DRIVERS tell me that they are not earning further
pickings because of the bus strike. 'Ordinary people,' they say, squinting at me with one eye through the driving mirror to see whether I am actually wearing a top hat or perhaps a coronet, 'Ordinary folk can't afford us. Those who can are now bringing their own cars in.' My sympathies are not easily engaged on the taxi- drivers' behalf. During the two weeks of the strike I have developed a strong dislike of some of their methods. It is understandable in normal times that a driver should always attempt to travel the shortest distance between two points. But it seems rather ridiculous to stick in a stationary procession for ten minutes rather than dodge down an alley or side street merely because this might make the journey fifty yards longer. Also infuriating is the refusal of so many drivers to cover their meter flag with a glove or a belt when they do not wish to pick up a fare. Those un-ordinary people who do use cabs are forced to leap into the road, semaphoring wildly and howling like dervishes, only to have the driver sail past with a self- satisfied sniff and a lordly dismissive wave of the hand. Others cruise along ignoring the customers they do not fancy or who appear to be bound in an uncongenial direction.
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