18 years a cabbie. Never considered myself racist. Never had any trouble with any member of an ethnic minority. Not even a runner.
There's always a third.
Picked up a black guy as Tiger Lily or LuLu or whatever was coming out. The streets were thronging.
He tells me to wait and goes off to get his companions, another black guy and two white girls.
They're going to Cameron Toll Hand for fuel up, I'm delighted.
I hear one girl comes from Inverkeithing and is a student living in Leith.
Arrive at Cameron Toll, pulls to a stop when the guy wants to go into the Lade.
Meter stopped, I,m on the main street, the guy pays me and goes to get out. They have a discussion about the girls going up to the flat. One girl is all for it, the Fife lass knows she's nowhere near Lrith.
It would appear that she's been persuaded to get into the cab by them saying Cameron Toll is on the way to her pad.
Anyway, she's not getting out. The other guy decides he's not getting out either. It's a stand off.
So, I tell them if they don't get out I,m going to call the police because they're causing a disturbance.
At that the first guy gets back into the taxi saying wow, if you're calling the police then I'm getting back in. That's rude man. You wouldn't get away with that in London.
The other guy then decides he's superior to me. Tells me he's a banker and earns 42 grand a year. How much do you earn he says.
The he cracks on he's got a masters degree to build his own ego.
Then claims I'm being racist because I didn't go into the communal drive at the flats.
Hears me describe them as being black to the cops and lo and behold he's telling me I'm racist.
I reply that I'm not, I couldn't care what colour he was, all I was bothered about was sitting there listening to their crap trying to persuade two girls up to their pad and I wasn't getting paid for it.
The other guy wants me to drive him to the garage for fags. fare refused given his behaviour.
So first guy is now trying to persuade his mate to leave the cab. And what he said was what really shocked me.
He said,' Look let's go. We could have got a couple of better girls. let's just go.'
That's what these guys thought about these girls. I could see the fear on the Fife Lass's face as she realised what she'd got herself into. There was no way she was leaving the safety of the cab.
The other girl, more hard nosed, was from London and had herself called the cops claiming that I was being racist and I was a dirty sracist Scottish c----.
Anyway the cops pitched up and I could sense that they too were in some difficulty, probably realising the best way forward was to calm the situation and get everyone on their way. They waited until I drove off and then they took the girls home.
I got a call later to ask for my details, which I gave.
Some things occur to me.
1. We have to beware the race card being played against us. It puts us at a distinct disadvantage. Remember our council takes away licences based on uncorroborated fantasies. This leaves us in a very precarious position.
2. We are all lesser citizens because the race card gives others more power over us.
3. The cops have just the same difficulty as we do. For them it must be worse. Guys like these know how to play the game and they get away with it, because we allow them to. The Law is not protecting either the cops or the public from these people.
4. The actions of these guys does little than cause racism against them. Their actions are despicable. I can't believe that a 42 grand a year banker would behave like this. I just wish I knew which company he worked for.
5. I fail to understand how a black guy could think a cabbie picking up a black guy is racist towards black guys.
If it wasn't so serious I'd be larfing my cork off.
05-09/70
