The Beautiful City
Just as it did following the June 1997 issue of Call
Sign and my first, whenever anyone says something nice about Call Sign, I
get a buzz that makes the previous month's hard work that went into it's
production, feel very worthwhile.
By the same token, if I get some criticism I try to act on it
if I think that it's justified. I do not have the philosophy that does not
allow me to admit to mistakes even though there seem to be some drivers
who still take delight in bringing the few apologies that I have made
since that first issue, to the fore.
"Another one!" they yell. Well, if it makes them
happy to do that, then I am delighted to have been of service. It seems
rather sad to me when someone is afraid to apologise for the fear of being
shown to be wrong. So why am I telling you this.? Am I laying the ground
for "another one?" Well, not quite this time, but pretty close.
I had a chat with a driver at Cabot Square last month and he
was telling me how great he thought the magazine was - much to my obvious
embarrassment. I could feel my face going tomato-coloured!
"I love reading it" he told me. "I leave it in
the cab and read it over a week and I just enjoy it - BUT..."
I was just getting over the embarrassment part and a small
amount of pride was peeping through. Then came that BUT...
"The last few issues have still been just as interesting" he
said, "but where was the good news? We're supposed to be doing really
well yet reading some of the BoM reports, you'd have thought we were
floundering in stormy waters."
AND HE WAS RIGHT!!! I reread the previous two copies and the
mood was gloomy. I made a few checks to find out whether I had misread the
situation; were we doing worse than appeared on the surface? The answer
was to the contrary. We were doing even better and that trend has
continued at least up until today (I'm writing this on Friday 23rd July
and that includes knowing about the Com Cab/DelGro purchase of Datacab).
So I have asked for some more-upbeat reports and to leave
any doom and gloom ones to those companies to whom the
description fits!
We are, beyond any shadow of a doubt, working with the best
radio taxi service in London - probably Europe and possibly the world! We
are run in the highest professional manner from the ground floor right up
to the fourth. Our business operates from a building that the late Peter
Fennymore would have been thrilled to see now, when he purchased it on
behalf of Dial-a-Cab in 1984. Our drivers are ultra-caring, as can be seen
by the way they put themselves out to cover disabled passenger trips. We
have success written right though us!
And, if that were not enough, we live in the most beautiful
city in the world. That driver was right. What have we got to be miserable
about! So yet again, I apologise...!
Taxi Driver Of The Year Competition
When I wrote last month that I believed that the Taxi Driver of the
Year Show would probably be cancelled and hinted that the competition
might survive, deep down I wondered about the chance of any success of a
competition without the show. Just a week after Call Sign's publication
came the official confirmation - although not to Call Sign! - that the
show had indeed been cancelled but that the competition had been saved and
moved to Brands Hatch.
I cannot withdraw the view I gave last month about the competition itself,
because they were my honest beliefs, however, the committee have obviously
done a tremendous amount of work in the desire to save the competition for
the trade. So much so that it deserves to succeed and strange as it may
sound after last month's comments, I'm actually looking forward to it.
Brands Hatch is a great venue and hopefully there will be
plenty to see and do on Sunday October 3rd - especially as it is a
'classic' car day.
Neither will there will be any 'buts' other than I hope that
the competition result will be announced much earlier than usual and not
after most people have gone home. Otherwise I wish the committee much
success and perhaps the day can almost turn into a blessing in disguise
insofar as future plans are concerned.
Finally, there have been several drivers living eastwards who have
privately moaned about the distance of Brands Hatch - drivers who would
think nothing of jumping in the car with their wives and nipping down to
Bluewater. Brands Hatch is just a short ride further on, so let's all go
and support the competition and as a by-product, have a great day out.
SHOULD THE LOSERS RULE?
I'm not sure how many of you will have seen the Conservative Party's
new proposal document "to get Britain moving again" called A
Fair Deal For The Motorist. Together with the usual "quotes", it
takes up 15 A4 pages and is obviously aimed at Britain's motorists.
What does it say? Well I'm sure that other papers, perhaps
more suited for the job, will go through it, but what amazes me is not so
much what it says, but the gall it displays in pretending to be the
motorist's friend! I don't remember much friendship handed out to drivers
during the Thatcher / Major years, do you? I seem to remember quite the
reverse with the Tories constantly increasing fuel tax, road tax and Steve
Norris turning down the proposal (from Call Sign) to remove VAT from at
least the wheelchair fitting part of the cab.
I also remember the Labour Party serenading the cab trade and telling us
how they would be the cab driver's friend if they were voted in at the
last General Election - we all know how the motorist is viewed now! Their
plan seems to be to rid the country of motorists so that Ministers can get
about more freely!
So what is the answer? It's obvious when you think about it!
Parliament must pass a law that makes the party with fewest seats the
Election winners. Then we will have to get all that is promised...!
