An Australian taxi driver was Wednesday ordered to pay Aus$1,415 (US$1,417) for wearing jeans to work despite insisting they were tailor-made and suitable for the job. In South Australia state, taxi drivers must wear smart business-style shirts and trousers, with jeans and tracksuit bottoms banned. [Naharnet]
What can one say about Lebanese taxi drivers? With a few exceptions, most of them have wrecked cars, no seat belts, no mirrors, no brakes and drive like crazy. Let’s not talk about what they’re wearing because the “flanelle” is good enough sometimes especially in summer.
Despite all that, it’s a fun ride sometimes and better than a slow-driving well-dressed and polite driver. I remember having the best rides from Dora to AUB university with “Malik el Gharam” and his 1960s taxi. This guy always wore a hat, has a long white mustache and tells funny and interesting stories.
My girlfriend (who is the quiet type) got into a taxi in Ashrafieh a few nights ago and the cab driver says:
“No hello? I’m not going to kidnap you or rape you!”
And then proceeds to try and coax her into going home with him for the rest of the drive. Horrible and scary.
There needs to be some sort of quality control for who gets hired.
haha, dream on. If they would have self respect they wouldnt agree on looking like this.
I can imagin them now protesting for making them the least thing they should have, descent cars
their conditions, like most lebanese ppl is so hard, and they don’t bring home much, yet they are always thankful. Like you man, the favourite taxi rides in my memory will always be the daily service I used to take from my house to AUB. Some really don’t have any morals, I agree, and so are the super crappy cars, but the cars wont matter, since the conversations always make the ride go smoothly. One sick 25 year old driver once used to tell me that since he turned 13, all the 40 year old divorced ladies used to make him come to their house to fuck them since he was so hot etc etc crazy lebanese
Is this the guy? if so, he’s a class act 🙂
http://shezsheinbeirutandeverywhere.blogspot.com/2009/12/mustache-dora.html
Yup this is the guy!
Hello 🙂
I would really appreciate if you can give me the number of the taxi driver ‘malik el gharam’.
thanks