Grandad wrote:
Have you ever been to Market Harborough? Have you ever spoken to any Market Harborough drivers?
Things in small Market towns around here may be a bit different to where you are but when everyone knows everyone else in the game they tend to be a bit more civil. The issues are with the out of town unknown drivers who have started to frequent our small towns and just do what they want.
Had to delay replying to this, because the thought of typing out a few thousand words in response was just a bit daunting, particularly as it would be a waste of everyone's time, both in terms of me composing it, and others reading it (even assuming anyone did).
So I've set a target of less than 1,000 words...
Anyway, keeping it as brief as possible, no, I've
never been to Market Harborough, thus
never spoken to a driver there. But good to know that you know how it all works on the rank there, having asked ONE driver about it on ONE occasion
(I'll ask one of the serial plying for hire PHDs (say) here in Fife whether it all works - well, of course it works fine for them
)
And was also wondering how you knew what happens in every market town in the country, and how it's all sweetness and light in such towns. However, on closer inspection, you actually say market towns 'around here', but which I assume you mean Leicestershire or thereabouts. Thus even more crude, nativist and exceptionalist than I initially thought
Don't get me wrong, there's nothing I oppose more (although I do exaggerate) than effectively unregulated cross-border working and effectively open borders immigration (and, surprise, surprise, there may be some link between the two). But, at the other extreme, there's an element of 'othering' and the like evident in local trades, and I'll never NOT recall the kind of imposter syndrome I felt both in the Dundee and St Andrews trades. And, even though I've now been an owner driver in the latter for 26 years, still very definitely feel that I don't belong here (although, to be fair, it's more a vibe I get from the council in particular rather than people in the local trade these days).
Anyway, more specifically you say:
Quote:
Things in small Market towns around here may be a bit different to where you are but when everyone knows everyone else in the game they tend to be a bit more civil.
Well according to Wiki both Market Harborough and Melton are well over 20,000 population-wise, so that's more than St Andrews (about 18,000, although I think that excludes the students). So I don't really get the size thing for a start. In fact, I've long had this theory that the trades in smaller towns are more cut-throat than in bigger cities, but no point in going into the minutiae of that here. But to say that 'size matters' with regard to civility in the trade etc is in my opinion misguided. The rank in question certainly wouldn't work here in any way, shape or form that could be described as ordered and civil. And, as I think I said earlier, even a standard straight line of ranked cars just doesn't work here in darkest Fife.
But, of course, St Andrews couldn't really be described as a market town, nor is it in Leicestershire, so maybe that explains it
On the other hand, I well remember something I think was posted on here years ago (too early for the search function) saying that, essentially, St Andrews is the epicentre of western civilisation, or something like that
(It was a quote from a Times comment piece from (Lord) William Rees-Mogg, who younger readers may not know was Jacob's da
, just as Lord Rees-Mogg didn't know St Andrews beyond the ivory towers of a visit to a university graduation ceremony conferring him an honary degree. Or something like that.)
Anyway, how does all this unalloyed civility between drivers in Melton square with the likes of the recent one who gave up his plate and badge, yet was continuing to do runs for 'petrol money', which both you and the council obviously thought worth pursuing?
Or the likes of your claim: "Most of the hackneys here don't use the meter anymore and overcharge customer's like crazy."
And that's just a couple of recent examples off the top of my head - I'm sure there are plenty more over you near-20,000 posts on here
(Of course, stricly speaking, that's more a trade v public thing rather than driver v driver thing, but, you know...)
Ditto Edders, who's posted a similar amount of posts, and has also been a member for about 17/18 years
Edders wrote:
When i ran my business we used to lose up to a dozen fares a week pinched by PH operators mainly; but occasionally Hackney often chancing their arm by driving out to hotels where functions took place and approaching anyone emerging claiming that they had been sent instead of us.
And that was in the post about poaching from the
Hotpoint club, which is why I remembered it - or other drivers accused of rape, or whatever. Or was that one of the more 'scrupulous' Peterborough drivers who was falsely accused? Outsiders, eh?
Or the likes of this a few weeks ago:
Edders wrote:
we used to have a driver that would loiter at popular pick up points and grab other drivers fares before they could get to them.
Well that's well over 900 words (including quotes), so maybe more than enough for now.
But I just don't buy the claim that the trades in small market towns in Leicestershire are automatically more civil than the likes of [wherever that isn't a small market town in Leicesterhshire, presumably].
And just like that I sometimes forget for five minutes that Grandad's a politician, the likes of this kind of stuff is good for a reality check.
So instead of encouraging people like Edders, Grandad, maybe a bit less spin, and a bit more Hotpoint-club style reality
Spin, Hotpoint Club, geddit?
In fact, in my opinion it would be a good thing if more of the trade's dirty laundry about the likes of the poaching at the Hotpoint Club was washed in public
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