Leaving the meter running

Taxis are interesting vehicles, when you get in one the reason for it could be one of many things: in a rush to get to an urgent meeting, coming home from a nightclub in the early hours, use as a getaway vehicle after a bank robbery - this is highly stupid as the taxi driver would then know where you lived. In any event, robbing a bank in this day and age is fairly silly, given the lack liquidity in the banking system; your loot would probably struggle to cover your taxi fare home.

Taxi firms in general can be quite frustrating "he's on his way" or "he'll be 2 minutes" and never "he's lost" or "he's preparing an ill informed rant, then he will spout off to you". Nonetheless, cab drivers can do some good work, on many occasions nothing has pleased me more than an illuminated yellow taxi sign heading in my direction during the early hours. This pleasure is often taken away when I realise that I am stood in the middle of the road and taxi driver is about to run me over.

Despite all that, taxi drivers are by and large well meaning people, particularly if you get into their good books. I remember getting into taxi in Central London on a cold December Saturday morning 18 months ago and having an unusual conversation with the driver. Things started badly on the journey as I revealed that I was a Northerner - he was a native of London Town. However I clawed things back for myself when I said I went to Loughborough University, this does not normally get you on-side with a taxi driver or any member of the public. However this chap's son attended the same university and from that moment on, I knew I would get from Marble Arch to St Pancras in the quickest possible time for around £10 and not by going via Croydon at a cost of £85.

The key to a pleasant taxi journey is to get on-side with the driver, so you can at least have a amiable experience. However you shouldn't take it too far, for example, imagine my surprise when I read on the BBC news website that Newquay taxi driver Don Pratt had been left around £250,000 in the will of a former regular customer, Mary Watson. I often tip the driver by rounding up to the next pound, her gesture is taking this act of goodwill a bit too far.

Mr Pratt has apparently already sold his taxi firm to a friend and has stated that he will go travelling as he has often worked tireless days and nights for his self-owned firm. To be honest, you can't fault him and it is nice to see a hard-working man get a lucky reward in life, hopefully he will enjoy his retirement.

However there are 2 reasons why we shouldn't feel overly envious of the cabbie in question:

1) His surname is Pratt.

2) Ms Watson's Solicitors have been on the phone and advised Mr Pratt that the inheritance will be with him any minute now...