Why was it pertinent to your point, that mini cabs are essentially inferior, that they are driven by immigrants? Personally I prefer to use Addison Lee to black cabs because I don't have to put up with the terrible suspension and there is much less chance of a pointless and opinionated rant from the front seat.
This is becoming a tad tiresome now, not just for me having to repetitively explain myself, but for any passer-by who happens to read it.
The fact that minicabs in London are often driven by immigrants is undeniable, it’s one of the lower level entry jobs that are open to anyone, ergo immigrants flock to fill the vacancies.
It DOESN’T make immigrants bad people, or undesirable, it’s just a fact of life, immigrants are NOT essentially inferior, not in the slightest, but in comparison to Black Cabs, minicabs ARE inferior, IMO.
It isn’t easy to come up with an analogy that doesn’t make it look like Black Cab drivers have on over inflated view of themselves, e.g. B.C. drivers are the Brigade of Guards, while minicab drivers are the Catering Corps, i.e. they’re both soldiering units, but one is generally thought of as more militaristic than the other.
The main reason why I, and many B.C. drivers view minicabs as lower down the scale, was the hoops that B.C. drivers had, and have to jump through to prove they were worthy of that piece of green tin that hangs around their necks, compared to what a minicab driver does to get a P.H. Licence.
I did The Knowledge in virtually prehistoric times, a time of full employment, when you could walk out of a job on Monday, and start a new one on Tuesday, friends and relations thought that I was nuts, riding a moped around London, in rain, sun, hot weather, snowy weather, learning where obscure buildings were, The Western Eye Hospital, the Burmese Embassy, The G.M.C., The Mandeville Hotel, etc. etc., I did it in 19 months, while working for The Post Office, when the average was 17 months, nowadays the guys doing it are looking at around 4 years.
To gain a P.H. Licence, all you need is a drivers licence and a relatively non existent criminal record, you don’t even have to to be able to speak English, although this was considered, but rejected as discriminatory.
That’s the abridged version of why we feel that we’re superior, but of course, it’s up to John Q. Public he pays his money, and takes his choice, so I hope that you enjoy Addison Pee, (as we call them).
FWIW, I became a Black Cab driver for two reasons, naturally because I knew that if I did the job right, I’d earn a nice few quid, but far and away above all, was because I could then go to work WHEN I wanted to, and come home WHEN I wanted to.
). It was probably the best Uber experience I'd had recently. So I got out and he was like "Thank you sir, have a good evening. Five stars for you!".
