Don't Wanna Drive Cab No More, No I Don't Wanna Drive That Taxi Cab No More, No More, No More!

This just past Sunday morning while waiting nearly 3 hours for my first fare, I bided my time listening to "Preachin' the Blues," noting with interest Johnny Horn's feature concerning the recently passed away song producer, Rick Hall, founder of both Muscle Shoals Studio and the "Soul Sound" it made famous.  Duane Allman was his first in-studio guitar player.

Bored, I began singing impromptu lyrics to the melody of the one of Hall's produced songs,  singing "I don't wanna drive cab no more, more!" which is reasonable when not one but two hours passed and I am now going out-of-my-mind, unhappy to be wasting the time away.  Finally getting a call before  hour 3 expired, I went from Crown Hill to Ballard for $14.00 total which included 5 for a tip. After that it suddenly got better as how could it get any worse?

All this got me to thinking once again about how we truly don't need 55 additional cabs on Seattle's taxi streets, adding further to our local area over-capacity quasi-taxi transportation.  While everyone associated with the City of Seattle Licensing Department are great folks, none of them have ever driven a cab, thus are blithely unaware of the inherent suffering and pain attached to this business.

 If anyone thinks that if I was the one in charge of licensing I would not be doing everything I could to stop this upcoming issuance, then I would say think again because I know the timing of these new medallions is a huge mistake, something that should have occurred 20 years ago but not in the current down business climate that we are now all facing.  I don't care that they are just implementing a decision made years ago.  It is the wrong decision at the wrong time.  I used the word brutal in describing my experience as an owner in an email response to John, the current licensing director.  And brutal it is, kicking my financial butt all over the place.  One of lines from yesterday was "My buttock is sore, I don't wanna do this no more!"

One major problem I have with the City & County is their lack of information concerning the responsibilities of taxi ownership.  Currently, the only way you are going to survive is to work 7 days a week month after month after month, grinding yourself into the taxi ground.  It is no way to live, and no way to have a life, transforming the uninitiated into taxi zombies.  Who wants to be a zombie?  No me, that's for sure.

What I think the City & County should do is conduct an owner workshop before issuing these new medallions.  Hire me and others to assist, allowing us to inform everyone what it is truly like to be an owner.  If after being taught the Taxi ABCs they still want to own a taxi, then fine but first, shall we provide everyone with a strong dose of reality?  Wouldn't that be helpful, moral and just?  I think it would be.

And why not, why not tell people what is really going on, because once you have immersed yourself into taxi ownership, it will either be swim or sink, with many going under and drowning.  Is that kind?  No, it is not kind.

Next week I am in Iceland soaking my sore taxi head.  Until then stay warm, and dry, as rain, rain is pelting the head, making want one want to fly away into the sky!