Taxi driver stories: the situations every cab driver has lived through

The most common taxi driver stories have little to do with the movies and a lot to do with everyday life: the passenger who reaches the airport with no time to spare, the phone that turns up on the back seat at the end of the shift, the late-night conversation in which someone says what they have never told anyone, the tourist showing an address written on a slip of paper or the family saying goodbye at the terminal door. They are situations any driver with years in the job will recognise, and they say a lot about what this work means.

In this article you will not find stories with names attached. What happens inside a taxi belongs to the person travelling in it, so we tell the stories for what they are: typical situations that happen over and over again in any city.

If you ask a taxi driver for their most common story, chances are they will talk about rushing. The classic is the traveller who jumps in at a run, suitcase half closed, and asks before even saying hello whether they will make their flight. The driver cannot break the rules, but they can choose the route well, know the most direct approach to each terminal and drop the passenger at the right door, which is sometimes what makes the difference.

There are more serious kinds of rush. Urgent trips to hospital are part of the job, and every so often the news reports a birth that came early and happened on the back seat of a taxi. These are exceptional cases, but any veteran driver remembers some journey when they felt time was really pressing.

The best way not to star in one of these stories is to plan: for airport trips, book your taxi in advance and leave with enough time, 2 hours ahead for European flights and 3 for international ones.

At the end of each job the driver checks the car, and it is a rare shift when nothing turns up: an umbrella on rainy days, sunglasses, headphones, a scarf, documents and, above all, mobile phones. Some of the most rewarding stories come from this, like the passenger who calls back in desperation and breathes a sigh of relief on hearing that their wallet is safe.

There are also more unexpected items, which we talk about in the things most often left in taxis. If it happens to you, the most useful thing is to have the receipt or your booking details: they let us identify the car and find the item much sooner.

A taxi is a curious space: two strangers, a short journey and the near certainty that they will never see each other again. That combination makes many people talk with surprising honesty. Celebrations, problems at work, a recent break-up, excitement about a trip: taxi drivers hear it all.

Many drivers agree that they have learned to read a passenger in the first few seconds: who wants a chat, who prefers silence and who just needs to get there. That intuition, earned through years behind the wheel, is part of what we call the wisdom of the taxi driver.

In a city like Madrid, many of the stories have a foreign accent. Some common situations:

• The visitor showing on their phone the name of a hotel that has several branches with almost identical names.
• The address that exists both in Madrid and in another town in the region, because many towns have their own calle Mayor or calle Real.
• The conversation that moves along through gestures, odd words and the phone's translation app.
• The traveller who, while they are at it, asks for dinner recommendations or a route for their first day in the city.

In these cases the driver's experience prevents a lot of trouble: confirming the destination before setting off saves more than one trip to the wrong address.

The night shift has its own catalogue. There are the groups leaving a concert or a match, those coming back from a wedding, the workers who finish when others are starting and the passengers on the first flights of the morning, who get into the taxi while it is still pitch dark. For many families, too, the taxi is the peace of mind of knowing that someone from home is coming back with a professional rather than driving in the small hours.

For those of us who work mainly with Barajas, the stories have a special tone. Emotions run high at the airport: long goodbyes on the departures kerb, nerves before a first flight, reunions after months away. There are families who arrive with more suitcases than fit in a saloon car, which is what 7-seater taxis are for; and there are travellers who land tired and are glad to find someone waiting with a terminal pickup.

The stories from the passenger's side, about journeys remembered for a lifetime, are in the loveliest stories are told in taxis.

Behind every story there is a professional quality. Rushing calls for knowing the city and keeping calm. Forgotten belongings, honesty and method. Confidences, discretion. Tourists, patience and a few languages. And the night, responsibility. If you like taxi stories on a grand scale, the ones that have made it into the history books and the cinema, carry on with taxis and their stories.