KEY POINTS:
Yousef*, an Ethiopian, arrived in New Zealand 10 years ago after spending years as a refugee in Sudan. He left his homeland during the tumultuous years of that nation's civil war.
When the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, organised for him to come to New Zealand, he thought all his prayers had been answered. He flew to a new life in a green land on the other side of the planet.
Having few qualifications, one of the few jobs available to him was taxi driving. He doesn't feel bitter about this, and understands that it will be a hard road finding an occupation he finds fulfilling. What he is beginning to feel bitter about is the treatment he receives from certain passengers.
He recounted some tales from his life as a taxi driver.
He tends to drive on weekend nights, when there is the most work available. Though this is the best time for making money, he says that it's also the worst time for receiving alcohol and drug fuelled, often racially charged abuse from his passengers.
He often has passengers who demand to know where he is from and why he has come to New Zealand. While waiting in the taxi rank it is not uncommon for drunken louts to jump on his bonnet and pull the magnetic signs off his doors. He has had eggs thrown at his taxi from an apartment above. He says the police, when called, say they might respond in an hour. To be fair, they were probably busy dealing with projectiles more lethal than eggs. On the night of the recent rugby test match at Eden Park, he was parked at the taxi rank in Kingsland. Three young men demanded to be taken 200m down the road. Seeing that the trio were drunk and fired up, Yousef decided that heeding their demand would be the best way to avoid an ugly scene. When the destination was reached, the meter read $2.50.
One of the young men then handed Yousef a $50 note. Not wanting to waste all his change he declined the note and informed the young men that their ride was free of charge. The young men gave him the fingers as they got out and slammed the door shut.
Yousef has also been punched in the face while on the job, and "runaways" (people reaching their destination and running away without paying) are a common occurrence.
To gauge other night shift taxi drivers' feelings, I hit the streets on a Friday night. I spoke to Raju, a doctor from India who is studying to be accredited. To get by he drives taxis at night. Raju says he faces abuse and has had to deal with runaways.
Ahmed, a Fiji Indian, has driven taxis in Auckland for 10 years. Ahmed told me that to avoid confrontations he simply didn't go to certain areas of the city that he knew to be problematic.
All the drivers I spoke to were looking for different work.
But Yousef said not all of his passengers were disrespectful or violent. A middle-aged couple he took to the eastern suburbs were very interested to find out he was from Ethiopia, and gave him a $40 tip.
Yousef's heart was warmed, but he says that his disrespectful passengers are forcing him to question the decency of humanity.
* All the drivers spoken to preferred their real names not to be used.
