Is it shameful to date a Taxi Uncle?

When Taxi Uncle first told his parents that he is going to become a taxi driver, his parents went into a fit. Send him to study overseas, all this fantastic university education and he decide to give it all up and become a taxi driver.

When I first told my parents I'm dating a taxi driver, all they asked was, "does he have a relief driver?" Then go on to give me advice on how to earn more money as a taxi driver. My sister amazingly said taxi driver is one of those vocation which one respects.

Seriously, these are not normal responses. No, my eyeballs almost fell out of their sockets. No, normal people would ask, what in the world would a highly educated female with a highly respectable job date a man who drives a taxi? No, normal people are like my post-doctorate friends who looked at him and politely ask, "how is business", when surely you can chat about Monty Python as you would your other PhD friends. After all, Taxi Uncle probably knows more about the topic than they did.

Taxi Uncle thinks that I would feel ashamed to tell people I date a taxi driver. No, not ashamed, just inconvenient. There are so many preconceived notions about taxi drivers that would be so difficult to explain. I don't wish to explain a million and one things and reveal his whole life story just to justify why I am in love with a Taxi Uncle.

So then the easier thing to do would be to say, yes, he is a Manager in a firm. When the truth is, I hate his day job and am counting down the day in earnest for the day he quits. I am looking forward with fervor to the day he becomes a full time taxi driver so he can spend more time with me! Yes, what more can a girl ask for than a man who earns money and can still spend lots of time with you.

So is it really shameful to date a Taxi Uncle? Being in this relationship, I'm not ashamed at all. But if I had to tell people at work, friends and family that I'm dating a taxi driver, I think not, not for now anyways. Just to keep my life simpler. Until one day people realize that being a taxi driver is nothing dodgy or for the uneducated, retrenched or lazy. People seem to think that a well-educated person like myself should date an equally successful person. But how is a taxi driver not successful? Many taxi drivers that I know of earn enough to put grown children through school and university. It's decent and honest living. It's hard work. So it's not a glamorous job, nor does it bring it big moolahs, but why does society put such jobs to high esteem? Personally, I think I'll pass.

Until one day I can stop reading negative portrayal of taxis in the news, caught up in accidents, criticized for being mad f1 driver wannabes, scandals with bargirls and prostitutes, charged for fraud at casinos, so on and so forth. The stories are never ending and I think I'll just keep it short for now.

So what if my Taxi Uncle has a higher IQ than I do and used to earn more than I do. I think I can only confidently say I am not ashamed when one day I do not need to justify his vocation anymore by highlighting all his other qualities. So what if he drives a taxi as long as it's decent living and he loves what he does? Now I just have to gather my courage to tell my gynae my future husband is a taxi driver when the doc next ask me what he does... ah yes, and to just swallow down my pride when I look into his judging eyes and smile. Yes, he is a taxi driver. Proud to be his Taxi Auntie.

It's not easy being a taxi driver. If only people would realize that.