It’s 6:24 a.m. and your best friend just texted you, “Hey…” Here it comes… “Want to take me to school this morning?” Trick question – it’s a statement. With 20 minutes left before I would usually leave for school, I pack everything into my car to make my way over to taxi trip number one (of many) for the week.
From one text to the next, teenage taxi drivers are always on a roll, quite literally. Being a 16-year-old taxi driver isn’t easy work; you try spending 30 dollars’ worth of gas on five trips to and from houses. “I don’t text that much,” Madi Hoyer said in an interrogation style interview. “Only, like, to go to Crumbl cookie, get a ride home from school, go to my boyfriend’s house…”
So, as I arrive at my best friend’s house at the bright and early time of 6:50 a.m., my Taxi services start their first pick-up of the day. “They’re always together,” stated anonymous student #1. “It’s like… a taxi service or something.” Indeed, my best friend and I are attached at the hip, or better yet, your car and your best friend are.
After a long and incredibly exerting day of high school, I switched my thinking cap to my taxi cap. “It was Friday,” Madi said, shrugging. “It was a perfect day to go get the new Crumbl flavors, you know?” I know, but my gas bill doesn’t.
While I do complain, being a Taxi Driver has its perks. “Ella’s payment is drama,” said Clara Colburn, Taxi Driver’s little sister. “I get to go somewhere, and she hears the juicy freshman gossip.” Along with that, I’ll get the occasional tip in the form of a free Crumbl cookie from my clients.
I love my friends and family to death – but seriously if this was a job, I’d be rich.
