“I was in a job that was slowly draining me. I couldn’t believe I was there for so long as I had given myself just about two years but yet eight years later, I was still there and it was not doing good for me.
“So, when the pandemic came, I said you know this is a good time for me to go. I did not exit immediately but because of how COVID made things believe you me it was easier for me to eventually leave.”
The words of a taxi driver I travelled with recently. I had cause to visit a neighbouring country and was pleasantly surprised that the taxis I took to and from the airport were both driven by women. They both had stories to tell but what I got from them was the grit and determination to make it in a male-dominated profession that has proven to be dangerous at times.
Both women are small business owners so when they are not driving their luxurious, well-kept, scented vehicles as taxis, one can be found whipping up her mixtures of hair products or attending to a client’s hair. The other might be working as a tourist guide, catering for an event or working as a chef.
They are both married and while their spouses expressed reservations initially, they now both support them and give safety tips.
“You have to keep pushing and you do this when you are young, you know. Being a taxi driver is not what I really want to do but it helps to pay the bills and I get to meet interesting people. I do what I have to do not just to survive but to live life to the fullest and enjoy what it has to offer,” the sister who is a chef/caterer and sometime tour operator told me during our journey that was extended by rush hour traffic.
She has been plying her trade for about a year while the other, as stated above, has been at it since 2020.
Insurance
“I had a hair salon but the building was bought and the owner wanted everyone to leave. I couldn’t get a place quickly enough and at first, I used to do home visits but it was not working out and I had to find a job.
“I got a job selling insurance and I said I would be at it for a year, maybe two years, and then reopen my business. But that wasn’t to be,” the sister who had the draining job told me.
“The way this thing is set up, you get big money at first but then you are like beholden to the company. They keep you in a grip and you realise that all that glitters is not really gold. I wanted to leave so many times but because of the stranglehold I just couldn’t. But then COVID came and things were not just the same and concessions had to be made.
“I saw an opportunity to exit and I took it. While others were doing everything to hold on to their jobs, I was looking at how to leave mine,” she said with a small laugh.
“Before leaving I started to work as a taxi driver part time and little by little I managed to leave,” the mother of two said.
While driving the taxi she also got a station in a salon and slowly rebuilt her clientele.
“When I finally managed to leave it was like a burden was lifted off of my shoulders. I felt so free and then I really understood how stifled and overwhelmed I felt in that job,” she reflected.
“It is sad that so many people remain doing things that they don’t like, things that are sucking them and taking away from who they are. But because of the need to survive they remain in the job and then they become old and unhappy. Well, I was not going to be one of those persons,” she expressed to me.
An extra dollar
For the second driver it was the need for an extra dollar that pushed her to ply the trade.
“It is not that I was hand to mouth or anything but there were things I wanted to do and I needed that extra money to get it done. So, I started when the tourist season was a little slow.
“My significant other (who by the way is a Guyanese) does not live here so I had the time and I say why not. He was not too pleased at first but then you know I spoke to him and show him that it was not that bad he was okay with it.
“I would do catering and sometimes it is very busy but then you know you will also have down time. You girl could properly cook,” she said laughing.
“Then sometimes I would work as a chef for functions so I am never really not busy. But don’t get me wrong, I does enjoy me life. I like to travel and see nice places and experience different places. I never come Guyana though,” she added.
I told her that was a pity since she is married to a Guyanese.
“Yea I know and I have to change that soon and come see Kaieteur Falls,” she agreed, laughing some more.
“Look, more and more women are doing this job and now it doesn’t have man and woman job we all have to do what we have to do,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone.
All through the conversations I kept asking questions and both women spoke freely and seemed willing even eager to share with me and I soaked it all up. They both related that they are on an app through which they get their bookings and when it is time for their other businesses or they just want a break they just turn the app off.
Vigilant
They have not had any unsavoury experiences unlike other cab drivers in their country. But they believe that if they were not alert it could have been different.
“I am always on high alert and vigilant. I never drive one route home and whenever I believe a car is following me, I would drive to a police station or I would go to a crowded area,” the first driver shared.
“But you know there was this one time when I think the passenger was up to something. I was still working the insurance job when I got a booking and realise that the person was going close to my workplace. I was headed to a meeting there and decided to take a job.
“I pick up the man and everything and things were going well when he gets this call and from what I could hear his swimming pool was overflowing and he needed to go home. Now, he turns and tell me this and the address he gives me… Well let’s just say it is not the best part of town and I don’t really visit that area.
“Something in me say just don’t go. So, I told him that I picked him up to take him to a specific location and I was heading there. I told him if he wanted, when we got there, I [could] call him another car to take him to the second location but I was not going there. You see how quick this man turns and tell me that it not that important and just before he was telling me that he had to go.
“I believe up to this day that he had ulterior motives and I am thankful I followed my intuition,” she related to me.
The other sister had a story to tell as well.
“I got this call to do a drop. It was not in the best part of the town but I went anyway. Now when I get there is to see is three men and it was a fourth one who made the call who was there. Now I don’t want to judge but they looked like criminals, that is just how they looked,” she said.
“I wound down my window a little and I said to them, ‘Look I is a woman and I don’t feel safe carrying you all’. One wanted to go and pick up a bag at some police base and he was not like sure of the location and then they had to go to another place. It all didn’t sound too right to me.
“Well, the one who called asked me if I wanted him to go with us, I hesitated but then I relented. They all come in the car, four men and me. It turned out he went to the base, pick up the bag and then I drop them to wherever else they were going. When they came out, I was like whew! Maybe I was judging them but you can’t be too careful and I was trying to keep my head on.”
I can only send positive vibes to both of these sisters. I thoroughly enjoyed the rides with them and just maybe if I return to their country, I will call them up.
