Derek with his family AND his old hair colour..
| sarcasm that my drum is being repaired by the
Witch Doctor so I am using my voice at the moment! CS: What about from other cab drivers? DC: Look at my hair, I used to dye it black. Then one day I woke up and said to myself that I was in my fifties with two grandchildren, why was I dying my hair? It was stupid so I let it grow back into it’s natural grey. But have you ever seen dyed hair that has been left? It first goes a sickly brown followed by a shade of pink! Some drivers were making jokes that came across as bad taste. I love a joke and I was the first to joke about my hair colour. But I know when someone is being sarcastic and some of my fellow drivers were displaying real sarcasm because of my skin colour. That’s why I say it is a mental problem. If you are Jewish you can tell jokes about yourself just as if you are Irish. But when you are black, it sometimes seems like open house. I have always said that you have to |
be able to laugh at yourself before you should
laugh at others or with others. In all honesty, I don’t see myself as any particular colour. I look at myself in the mirror and see a black man but I don’t walk around saying: "I’m black". I just get on with life. CS: What about trouble from passengers? DC: I’ve had people who’ve asked "… whether a ‘coon’ like me knows my way round okay?" or knowing that I can hear, whether "…this black **** thinks he is getting paid". The funny thing is that sometimes they don’t even realise what they are saying. They are so used to racialist remarks in their home surroundings that it comes out as being natural to them. But there are those who obviously DO mean it and try to wind me up. All I say is that they can get out straight away or wait until I get to the nearest police station. But in all honesty, the percentage of trouble makers over 28 years is very small. |
DC: If I don’t like the look of someone - black or white - I won’t pick them up either. One of the big ‘problems’ with youngish black kids is that many of them dress to look like some of the rap singers whose lyrics seem to revolve around gang warfare - whatever happened to Jim Reeves, eh? The singers wear hoods so the kids do it too and it has the effect of making them look like trouble makers. But I have seen white kids that look equally as frightening. The answer is to use your initiative and be careful whoever you pick up regardless of colour.
CS: Do you have any prejudices?
DC: No. I either like someone or I don’t. That is all it comes down to. I have always found that you get back out of life what you put into it and I work hard at being a nice guy! Not because I am black but because I like people and I hope they like me. If someone doesn’t like me because of my colour, that is their problem and not mine.
CS: And lastly, cab driving in general. How do you see it?
DC: I love it! It’s a good living although it is getting harder and harder to negotiate your way around, especially in the City. I also love being on DAC. It has the feeling of being in a large club and the camaraderie is wonderful. I know it is a thriving business, but it still has that friendliness about it. What makes me smile is at AGM’s when everyone seems to sit in the same seats year after year!
CS: Lastly, what would you do if you won the lottery?
DC: I think I’d still push the cab around but my wife always tells me that she would buy us a large mud hut in Regents Park!
CS: Thanks Derek…
