Good for her! This is a woman with drive (no pun intended). TGO
Refer to story below. Source: Associated Press
By AYA BATRAWY | Associated Press
CAIRO (AP) — It has all the trappings of an Egyptian taxi. The radio is usually tuned to the legendary singer Umm Kulthoum, whose robust voice is a favorite among cabbies. On the dashboard is a pack of Marlboro cigarettes. But startlingly, so are a stick of black eyeliner and lip gloss.
Nadia Abdel-Gaber frequently gets double-takes from customers who hail her cab.
“First thing anyone ever says to me always is ‘How strange a woman is driving a taxi’,” said Nadia Abdel-Gaber, who is one of just a handful of female taxi drivers in Egypt.
Driving a cab is considered a man’s work in conservative Egypt. The genders mix relatively freely here, compared to many other Muslim nations, but the idea of driving the streets and picking up strangers is seen by most as inappropriate for women. Even Abdel-Gaber’s family do not support her work — especially her sister, who lives in Saudi Arabia where women are prohibited from driving at all.
But Abdel-Gaber says there’s no shame in standing on her own two feet. A single mother of three teenagers — her husband abandoned them, she says — she needs the work. She owns the cab and previously she rented it out to other drivers. But when they racked up too many maintenance costs, she took the wheel herself.
“Instead of relying on others, I can work and spend on my children’s tutoring and food and outings with their friends,” said Abdel-Gaber, who is in her 40s. She has a Masters in agricultural engineering but could never find a job in the field that paid enough.
She selects her customers, passing on young males who may harass her; she never goes to the outskirts of Cairo; and she rarely works at night. But being a woman has perks: She has a roster of female customers who call on her, more comfortable being stuck in traffic with a woman behind the wheel than a man who may sneak leering peeks back at his passenger. And she’s carved out a place for herself in a man’s world. She said she unwinds at night by joining male taxi drivers at a traditional cafe, sipping coffee and playing backgammon.
“Look, job opportunities are hard, so as women we need to see what we can do and just go down and do it,” said Abdel-Gaber, a smile rarely leaving her face. “Stop being afraid.”
PS… The GhostRider forgot that today is March 8, so to all you lovely women out there:
Happy Womens’ Day!
Feliz Dia de Las Mujeres!
Joyeuse fête des Femmes!
צופרידן וואָמען ס טאָ!
vil du gifte deg!
Mutlu kadınlar günü!
Froehlichen Frauentag!
: في يوم المرأة سعيدة!
χαρούμενος Ημέρα της γυναίκας!
Happy Lá na mBan!
And ladies, do not fret because I am not that unique,There are many other men, like myself, which realize that your are the superior gender and I love you all.
-GhostRider Wisdom…that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Woman is superior to man when it comes to doing whatever needs to be done. I know a great deal of male professionals who have lost their jobs – and I include myself in this statement – and won’t drive a cab if their lives depended on it. I can’t say that I know any male professionals that their lives depended on it, but I do know of those whose homes depended on it, and of course, they lost their homes. I doubt I will ever meet a woman who will lose her home because she would not to whatever she needed to do. And yes, I do know that there are women out there who are no better than their male counter parts but they are few and far in between, and the exceptions. Viva La Femme! -GhostRider Wisdom…that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Quite frankly, I never ever, not for one second, considered driving a cab after losing my job AND my home. Not that there is anything wrong with driving a cab; I just never even thought about it. Hey, what the hell, I like to drive, so driving a cab wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. It’s not grueling physical work and definitely doesn’t require thinking, so other than the traffic, it’s stress free.
One bonus of being a cab driver is meeting a lot of interesting people; perfect for a social butterfly, though not one of my strengths to be sure.
I disagree with your first sentence. The only “thing” women are superior at than men is giving birth.