The Conversation (0)
Elaine McCallig
Oct 06, 2021
Michael Gaida / Pixabay
Often when you get in a cab, both the driver and the passenger will read the situation before starting a conversation.
Some people immediately put on their headphones lest someone attempt to socialise with them (the horror). Others are perhaps too willing to chat, and may use taxi journeys as an opportunity to have an impromptu therapy session with the cabbie.
However, one Irish taxi driver has made his feelings on socialising in his workplace very clear.
Just had this legend of a taxi driver. 👏 https://t.co/4eOGHCrSNq— Luke O’Riordan (@Luke O’Riordan) 1633284142
In a note posted on the plastic partition between the driver and the passenger, the taxi driver has asked people not to ask “futile personal quizzes”.
Pre-empting the small talk, he wrote that he is from Ghana, but is now an Irish citizen. “Yes I like it here,” he added.
He added that he has an MBA, and asks people to “show due esteem.”
Posted on Twitter by Luke O’Riordan, the no-nonsense cabbie’s post has gone viral having racked up 165,000 likes and over 11,000 retweets.
The note had Twitter in stitches, and the jokes only continued in the replies:
@luke_oriordan But if I don't find out he's from Ghana, how am I going to find out if the next person I meet from G… https://t.co/BXZ6sTeeZJ— Kate O'Sullivan 🇵🇸 (@Kate O'Sullivan 🇵🇸) 1633285921
@KateOSully @luke_oriordan https://t.co/i87FbQqTmr— Lighthouse Keeper (@Lighthouse Keeper) 1633290558
@Dunnineo @luke_oriordan Most people in customer service hate customers my guy.— Louise (@Louise) 1633287711
@luke_oriordan That's my kinda taxi— Cianan Brennan (@Cianan Brennan) 1633285797
Some people thought it was rude and didn’t quite understand why the driver wouldn’t want to have a chat with them:
@luke_oriordan It’s a bit rude to be honest. What’s wrong with asking him where he is from originally (presuming he… https://t.co/cyTFMGJpd2— kevin (@kevin) 1633289919
@HaraOScarlet @luke_oriordan If the your taxi driver wants a conversation, they'll ask you for it. Otherwise, just… https://t.co/tSxN4I9uzI— Lighthouse Keeper (@Lighthouse Keeper) 1633290282
@luke_oriordan Good taxi drivers will engage in idle chit chat if its initiated or keep quiet if the passenger does… https://t.co/N987c4xorm— Fran Larkin (@Fran Larkin) 1633334468
Others wrote that it could be tiring for the driver to answer the same questions over and over again, especially as there may be racist undertones to questions around citizenship:
@luke_oriordan So many of these replies are missing the point. It’s not the questions themselves but the tone and i… https://t.co/IgaIHtDfFS— Emily 🍒 (@Emily 🍒) 1633298163
@luke_oriordan You can tell who the white people are that constantly ask POC inappropriate questions by how upset t… https://t.co/k7CFwVJg0l— Wakanda Shit Is That? (@Wakanda Shit Is That?) 1633356546
@BobKavanagh @luke_oriordan All subjects are not acceptable. Someone’s citizenship status is not something people w… https://t.co/9bx0LsR6QG— Yasemin (@Yasemin) 1633300829
Either way, it’s their car, so their rules.
Headphones on for this journey, then.