I did it, briefly, twenty-some years ago. Lousy job—sitting all day, irregular pay, danger, nasty fares, drunk fares, belligerent fares, fares who seem to have nothing better to do with their days than to find ways to cheat a driver. But the thing that really sucks is the hours: shifts are twelve hours long, either ending or beginning at 3:00am, and because your rental for the cab is highest at the beginning of your work week, descending every successive day (free on day seven), the compensation is structured so that you're making good money only by working a ton of hours.
replyBecause it doesn't pay very well. Being affluent increases life expectancy.
reply1. They are hardly in the bottom quintile, where the income effect is large enough that it could actually shave 7 years off their life. I'd expect nightly work, irregular sleep patterns, too much fast food and maybe a higher frequency of smoking to do their part.
reply2. The original study didn't just study taxi drivers, but also ambulance drivers. I doubt that their life expectancy is that much lower.
They are if you consider the amount of hours they work
replyLower income, little physical mobility in their job, constantly breathing traffic fumes, and tire and brake dust would be my first suspects.
reply>For from the look of it it doesn't look like an exceptionally hard job
replyDefine "hard job". Carrying heavy objects?
It’s a very sedentary job, pretty much by definition.
replyGetting stabbed in the neck by filthy street urchins.
replyProbably not smart to post something like this on the same message board you’re using to get a job
replyA joke?
replymight turn out that the next company they apply to is run by street urchins who don't take too kindly to the stereotype? or possibly humorless scolds who don't want their employees telling jokes in their free time?
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