{"id":1750,"date":"2014-01-09T07:00:16","date_gmt":"2014-01-09T07:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.taxifarefinder.com\/newsroom\/?p=1750"},"modified":"2014-01-08T02:29:11","modified_gmt":"2014-01-08T02:29:11","slug":"a-rare-sight-a-female-taxi-driver-in-nyc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taxifarefinder.com\/newsroom\/2014\/01\/09\/a-rare-sight-a-female-taxi-driver-in-nyc\/","title":{"rendered":"A Rare Sight: A Female Taxi Driver in NYC"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York City taxi industry is certainly male dominated.\u00a0\u00a0No question about it.\u00a0\u00a0Most passengers expect to see a man behind the wheel when they get into a taxi, and I have been called sir, pal, and bud more times than I can count.\u00a0\u00a0I have even had police officers in a car next to mine roll down their window to tell me that I am a rare sight.\u00a0\u00a0Every shift I drive, I have several people tell me how they have lived in the city for many years and I am the very first woman cab driver they have ever had.\u00a0\u00a0In a city where there are roughly 46,000 yellow cab drivers, there are around 170 women.\u00a0\u00a0That is a pretty low percentage, so it is no surprise that most people are caught off guard.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Everyone, especially other drivers, assumes that as a female driver, I must make amazing tips.\u00a0\u00a0It may be the case sometimes, but sometimes it is no more than any other driver would get, and sometimes, even less than that.\u00a0\u00a0But the times that it is the case, it\u2019s usually pretty good.\u00a0\u00a0I don\u2019t know if it is that I am female, or just friendly, but some people feel generous.\u00a0\u00a0It is usually guys trying to leave an impression, or little old ladies who get really excited to see a younger woman taking on the \u201cman\u2019s world\u201d.<\/p>\n

Another perk of being a woman is usually once people see me, they get excited and it opens up a door for conversation.\u00a0\u00a0They want to know, usually in this order, \u201cHow long have you been driving a cab?\u201d, \u201cdo you like it?\u201d and \u201chow did you get into this?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s like someone pasted a script for them to read off to the divider behind me.\u00a0\u00a0So I have pretty much\u00a0\u00a0mastered my responses.\u00a0\u00a0I don\u2019t even have to think about it anymore.<\/p>\n

They are also more open to other conversation as well.\u00a0\u00a0I love talking and try to be friendly with all my passengers.\u00a0\u00a0So, if their surprise at me being a woman gets the conversation going, then I am happy for it.\u00a0\u00a0Nothing is worse than a night where nobody wants to talk.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Sometimes you get guys who take the situation as a chance to hit on you, though.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019ve had guys ask me to flash them.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019ve had guys ask me out.\u00a0\u00a0Just last week, I picked up a group of guys who had been out on the town and one of them told me that he was going to be my Christmas present and I was going to get to \u201cunwrap\u201d him.\u00a0\u00a0Even other drivers, too.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019ve been hit on at my garage, at the JFK taxi lot, even from another driver in a car next to mine on Park Ave.\u00a0And none of these situations, thankfully have been in any way threatening.\u00a0\u00a0If I felt unsafe, I couldn\u2019t do my job. While it can sometimes be amusing, it isn\u2019t always my favorite part of the job.<\/p>\n

One of the things I get asked all the time is \u201cwhere do you stop to use the bathroom?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Unlike the guys on the job, I can\u2019t just pull over anywhere.\u00a0\u00a0Driving around the city, I have had to learn places where not only will I be welcomed to use their facilities, but where I will be able to find parking while I go.\u00a0\u00a0Certain neighborhoods are impossible at some times of the night, while others have ample parking.\u00a0\u00a0And I need to usually know where I am going to be able to go before I get there otherwise it\u2019s a gamble, and some places have tried charging me to use their facilities, and others flat out turn me down or tell me there is no bathroom (which is usually a lie).\u00a0\u00a0I am not above lying about being pregnant to use a bathroom in a dire situation.\u00a0\u00a0But after a year and a half of driving a cab, I have a few favorite spots that I know I can always use.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Being a woman driver has its perks, and it has its drawbacks.\u00a0\u00a0I may have to work a little harder, drive a little faster and cut a few more people off to keep other drivers from trying to push me around.\u00a0\u00a0But it pays off.\u00a0\u00a0And at the end of the day (or night), I can honestly say I love what I do.\u00a0\u00a0I can\u2019t remember the last time I had a job I was as proud of.\u00a0\u00a0I love the conversations I have with my customers who may not give other drivers a second thought.\u00a0\u00a0In a world filled with cell phones and iPads, most other drivers tell me how nobody talks to them.\u00a0\u00a0And while I do get my share of people who don\u2019t talk, I know I have a much higher percentage of people who do.\u00a0\u00a0I love that when I walk into the concession at the JFK taxi lot, once the other drivers realize that I am a driver too, they give me just that little bit of respect, because they know how tough the job can be.\u00a0\u00a0And while that respect won\u2019t last until they cut me off next time on 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0Ave, for that moment, I have it.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m \u201cone of the guys\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0I like that street cred. I\u2019ve earned it!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A big thank you to our guest blogger Erin Samuelsen, NYC taxi driver and Girly Cabbie<\/a> blogger. We appreciate her honesty and willingness to write for TaxiFareFinder!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New York City taxi industry is certainly male dominated.\u00a0\u00a0No question about it.\u00a0\u00a0Most passengers expect to see a man behind the wheel when they get into a taxi, and I have been called sir, pal, and bud more times than I can count.\u00a0\u00a0I have even had police officers in a car next to mine roll […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxifarefinder.com\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1750"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxifarefinder.com\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxifarefinder.com\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxifarefinder.com\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxifarefinder.com\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1750"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxifarefinder.com\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1752,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxifarefinder.com\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1750\/revisions\/1752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxifarefinder.com\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxifarefinder.com\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxifarefinder.com\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}