by CHRIS BARRY

Name: Michel Vanegas

Age: 55

Occupation: Taxi driver

Bio: This strapping Ville Émard buck was employed as a criminal investigator in his native Colombia, but, as the work became increasingly dangerous, and having lost much of his "youthful idealism," he gradually "became disenchanted" with police work and emigrated to Canada in 1972. A fully trained, yet due to bureaucratic complications unlicensed, acupuncturist, Michel first started work in Canada as a BBQ chicken delivery boy before learning the city well enough to eventually pass his cabbie exam with flying colours. He currently drives a 1997 Chevy Lumina for Diamond Taxi.

How many times he’s been mugged: Only once - so far. "I was just lucky not to get hurt. They made me drive out to Verdun, took all my money, my car, and left me out on the street. Also, I had all my rent money with me that day - which just happened to be my birthday - and they got that too."

Was he traumatized after getting held up? "Yes, very much. It took me about six months to regain my confidence. But I had to go back to work the next day because, you know, I needed to work to make the money. I won’t work nights anymore."

How much he earns on a really good year: "Maybe 24K."

On a less than good year: "Twelve or fifteen thousand dollars."

How many hours he works: Thirteen or 14 hours a day, six-and-a-half days a week. "I always keep half a day just for me and my wife."

Benefits: None whatsoever.

Do many people get in his cab and talk about him as though he wasn’t even there? "Maybe one per cent of my customers, but most people are polite. More often people are bossy, asking me to make illegal turns or break the highway code. But I can’t do these things for them and risk getting a ticket."

Do customers ever offer him sexual favours in return for driving them home? Very rarely.

Is it in his best interest financially to take people along the slowest route imaginable? No. "I try to be as efficient as I can, and anyway, you make less money when you’re stuck in traffic."

His biggest tip ever: Five dollars. "It’s not like in a restaurant. Most people just give you the balance of their change. So if you get an $80 fare, you might only get a 50-cent tip because people think you’ve already made a lot of money on the meter. They think the money goes into your pocket."

Where he hangs: "Well, usually, as people with not that much money, we go to not so expensive places. But sometimes my wife and I go to Buffet Vichy because there is variety and you can eat as much or little as you want."

Childhood ambition: To become a journalist.

Last book read: One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Musical tastes: Bach, Mozart, Satchmo.

Words of wisdom: "Don’t brag about yourself and the things that you know."

Comments? dimwit@openface.ca