taxi!

Living in the city, and not driving, I have many occasions when I find myself in the company of taxi drivers. Especially when it's raining, I'm heading across town in some wacky way that trains and buses don't feel like going, or I'm running terribly late and am too lazy to walk. Anyway, not only do I catch taxi's from time to time, but I also enjoy many varied conversations with cab drivers.
(Inner West to Inner City suit bar, early Friday evening) taxi driver from Pakistan, tells me about his house hunting, the suburbs, the dillemas, the trade-offs.
(Late late one weekday night, heading home from work) taxi driver is very happy, has just won $1800 on the pokies, tells me his strategies, tells me how he shared the winnings with his mates, beams and actually gets the folded cheque out to show me.
(Home to city, early weekday morning, running late for a train to get to a workshop) driver asks me about my work, in detail, including my pay, my level of satisfaction, my qualifications, and whether I think this is a good field to get into. I omit key details so as not to disillusion him. I support his suggestion of part time distance mode study but don't tell him that I haven't managed to pull it off.
(Home to Inner City non-suit bar, Friday night) taxi driver asks me about computers, Macs, and quizzes me on their software applications, what works well what doesn't and what type of lap top he should buy. He laughs at other drivers' impatience and the whole idea of road rage.
In the past I have had taxi drivers tell me to drink hot water with lemon to help me lose weight, ask me about poetry, complain about the government payment system for drivers who pick up and drop off children with disabilities, invite me out for coffee, tell me about their other jobs in IT, their study, their philosophies of life, play favourite songs, call their partners on speaker phone to discuss dinner and arrangements with children without telling them they have a passenger, tell me stories about business women who work 14 hour days and sleep in the backseat on the way home snoring, tragic, such a waste of youth, and many other interesting tales.

I enjoy many random snippets of lore and logic, many 'slices of life' and many safe trips home thanks to the cab drivers of Sydney. Thank you all.