Don't get me wrong, most of them are the salt of the earth and I've had some great chats over the years owing to the fact that I slog between my house and Piccadilly Station quite a bit. But when I get back from London, quite often at approaching 9pm having left home before 5am, just about the last thing I want to hear is...
Do you want to go down the Parkway, mate?
No! What I want is for you to take me home, using your finely-honed taxi driver skills, local knowledge, and road craft to determine the best route for the time of day. It's not up to me to tell you which way I want to go. I'm paying you to decide. Get me home the quickest way.
What? Do they think I'm gonna suspect them of deliberately taking the longest route, or the one most choked with traffic, and then refuse to pay because they should have gone another way?
When I get a cab in London, I don't hear "should I go via Lambeth Bridge, mate?" or "do you want to go down Kensington High Street?" They just get on with it. God.
