I always thought, if I ever became
a taxi driver I would try and look smart.
Therefore I have always worn a shirt and tie everyday when driving my
taxi. I would look upon it as a
‘discipline of work’ and it came quite naturally to me after twenty years of
wearing a suit and tie when I worked for a large insurance company as a
financial advisor. I was to find though
that this little dress code of mine was to bring funny looks from many of the
other taxi drivers I met on my travels.
They probably thought that I was odd or mental or something, never mind.
I found that a lot of the ‘old dears’ using the
car felt a lot more at ease with me and some even asked the radio controller to
send me next time on the call. They obviously
thought I was old fashioned and harmless, and felt safe with me. The owner of the taxi firm was more than
happy with my appearance and said on several occasions that he wished more of his
drivers wore a tie. I found that when he
wanted to make a good impression with a new client or company account I was one
of the drivers who would be sent on those jobs, generally ferrying business men
from the company to the rail station or airport. Over the years I was to find that people
would jump into my car, take a look at me and say, you don’t see many taxi
drivers wear a tie. Usually I would
reply, well I can look scruffy if you like, but more often than not, I would
just say, my Mum got me dressed this morning.
