Faith in humanity restored

Had about three undesirable fares in a row last night so was feeling severely hacked off and ready to pack it in and head home.
Got a shout from the office to go and pick up at a restaurant in the town centre.
It was a family Gran , Grandad , Mum , Dad and two kids, a boy about 12 and a little girl about 4.
The old boy gets in beside me and starts talking about the car , size of engine, how many passengers , fuel consumption etc.
This is a common conversation piece with passengers up there with "Busy tonight?" and "What time do you finish?"
He's a nice old geeezer so I chat away with him and am soon in a better mood.
You can tell by the way this family talk to each other that they are good people. There is no swearing , they are not drunk and when the kids speak everyone listens and makes a big fuss over them. We have a laugh about the current state of our local football team and when we arrive at the house I feel as though I'm dropping good friends off.
I watch them disappear up the driveway and the young lad is holding his wee sisters hand in the dark and the adults are walking, arms linked into the house.
I know it all sounds corny but fares like this make up for all the toerags and vagabonds that you come up against in this job.

A Domestic

Ordinary guy gets in the car .......immediately starts talking about his problems with his wife and how she has been knocking around with another man.
Tells me the address and how if this bloke's car is outside then he is going in to break his neck.
As we approach the house I'm praying the car aint there as I am starting to see myself as a getaway driver.
We pull up slowly (it's like in the movies) , he's leaning forward looking for the motor, I begin to feel I am on his side as he has been left with two hysterical kids and seems a decent bloke , I almost volunteer to give him a hand.
The car isn't there , we are both relieved. He gets out and has a token wander about the front of the house and kicks the head of a daffy as he gets back in.
We head back to his house and he spills the beans on his marriage and I feel really sorry for him , though not sorry enough to let him off with the fare it is 50/50 after all.

It Happened One Night

Stories from a fifty / fifty cab driver in a small Scottish city.
Sometimes known as "half take" it's when you split half the money with the office/boss and keep the rest.

My stories will centre around the cast of characters that climb into the back of my cab every night and the pitfalls and triumphs of working in the taxi game.