Memoirs of a Winnipeg Cab Driver

by E Eddy Proulx

Cab drivers! What a strange lot! Why would anyone want to drive a hack for a living? Other than being capable enough to safely operate a vehicle, you don't need any special skills or training. You don't need a university degree in the humanities, though you may become a qualified human affairs expert after driving a cab for several years.

Cabbies must be the most misunderstood creatures in the world! Why else would they do what they do? Without it being said, a cab driver works twelve hour shifts on a routine daily basis. They often get assaulted, and even more often than not, they get ripped off. Society as a whole views cabbies as individuals with the same I.Q. as a lava lamp, who only drive a taxi because they can't get a job anywhere else, and, they probably have a criminal record too! They get screamed at, threatened, spat on, slapped, punched, kicked, stabbed, and tragically, some get murdered. What person in their right mind would want to take on this kind of a life when they could earn a lot more money with a lot less aggravation and abuse by simply donning a pair of dark glasses and selling pencils on any street corner?

I drove a taxi in the city of Winnipeg for about twenty years for Red Patch Taxi. These memories are my memories and I am gladly sharing them with you, the reader. My biggest thanks go out to the city of Winnipeg and to all of its citizens whom I found to be the friendliest people anywhere! I hope that these stories of mine will move you emotionally, either with a smile, a laugh or a tear. Winnipeg, thanks for the memories! Savour the stories!

392 pages, Paperback

Published September 4, 2020

Reviews

[Jennifer G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always happy to support a local author, I bought this book directly from the author at a Winnipeg supermarket. It is a set of stories from his career as a taxi driver in Winnipeg. In general, I found the stories interesting and some to be a bit shocking. I do encourage the author to have his next book proof-read to limit the amount of spelling and grammatical errors.

[Dave Courtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I happened upon this book after crossing paths with the author in the midst of a very real and very exhaustive boots on the ground effort at promoting his self published book. I was happy to support not just a fellow Winnipegger, but someone with a very real interest in achieving his dream to write a book about something he loves and knows intimately- cab driving.

I didn't have too much in the way of expectation, although I was excited about travelling the familiar streets of our hometown. It didn't take long to be confronted by the fact that this author defintiely grew up in a different era than my own. I certainly don't think it was intentional, but some of the rhetoric and some of his views definitely carried a similar vibe as those familiar, awkward convos with grandpa where he still uses racial slurs and holds certain socially unacceptable ideas.

I certainly don't think this should define him as a person- I had a lovely conversation with him when I bought the book, and his stories are full of examples where helping people is a definite part of his value system. But it did nevertheless make some of it hard to read. Perhaps more glaring though is the sheer number of spelling mistakes. It's clear this got pushed through without a big commitment to the editing process, even misspelling Gimli at one point. On the positive though, this also lent it a bit of an unpolished, uncensored vibe, not in the way of explicit language or subject matter but in the way of a tell all, a behind the scenes look at one specific cab company and a very specific city and the system that surrounds it. The book is structured according to short chapters, each telling one specific story or memory from his time in the industry. It's not expressly linear, but the early chapters also incorporate some "how I came to be a cab driver" background details. Taken together it has the feel of sitting down with someone over drinks and sharing stories, with this obviously being a one way exchange


Even with those detailed shortcomings, I'm still glad I read it and was happy to support him on his endeavors to write and continue writing. The parts I enjoyed the most was getting to learn about an industry and a piece of our history that I knew very little about. Being taken back to the city that I knew as a kid was also a lot of fun, and many of his stories afford it a unique and eclectic characteristic at once familiar to anyone born and raised in this medium sized city in the middle of nowhere and also somehow illuminating all the same.

[Mea Sellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been a Godsend to me! I found it in my mother's room after my father passed away this Spring. I thought it was from my dad's office and it looked intriguing and like a fun and interesting read so I took it to do "10 minutes a day" of reading. I mentioned it to my mom and she said she bought it from the author in Family Foods (Oakbank)- she said he looked like a fun loving guy and she felt in her heart she was to support him. Well I'm so glad she did! Turns out he is a Christian author and my faith is important to me as well - the joy I've received in reading this book and the education (he uses many terms and words that I like to look up and write down to go over so I expand my knowledge and vocabulary) has been very rewarding. Thank you so much Eddy for being obedient to the Lord and using your gifts to write this book! And thank you for your faithful years of service as a Taxi cab driver in Winnipeg! 😀

[Jen Haynes · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is not worth the time.

[Phil Neudorf]

Interesting read

[Krystally B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this book randomly in toronto, being from timmins/NL I was like as if 🤣
I absolutely loved this book
What a gem of a read!

[Edna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great stories. Great human interest focused.