[Rhodes22-list] Hey Slim! What's Up With This

Brad Haslett flybrad at gmail.com
Sat Sep 30 18:19:20 EDT 2006


Slim,

What I found most interesting was the proposed solution - put color codes on
the cabs?  How about jerking their licenses!  If it was white cab drivers
refusing blacks rides I somehow don't think we'd be talking a color code
system.  Most of the Somali's I ridden with in MSP have been quite
friendly.  Of course, I'm not packing booze when at work.

Brad


On 9/30/06, Slim <salm at mn.rr.com> wrote:
>
> Brad,
>
> Yeah, I saw that one too.  I had no idea.  Thankfully, I can ride the
> light
> rail to and from my house to the airport.  But before the train was built
> I
> used to cab it.  I always felt sorry for them to get me because those guys
> sit in line sometimes for hours waiting for a fare.  Then they get me and
> I'm only ten minutes away--the fare is about $8.00.  Then they go back and
> wait some more.
>
> Slim
>
> On 9/30/06 7:34 AM, "Brad Haslett" <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Slim,
> >
> > I may have to re-think my admiration of Somali cab drivers.  Here's the
> > article from yesterday's Strib.
> >
> > Brad
> >
> > --------------------
> >
> > [image: StarTribune.com] <http://www.startribune.com/> TAXIS092906
> >
> > Last update: September 28, 2006 ­ 11:36 PM
> > Got wine at the airport? It's harder to grab a cab About three-quarters
> of
> > the 900 taxi drivers at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport are
> > Somalis, many of them Muslim. About three times daily, would-be
> customers
> > are refused taxi service when a driver sees they're carrying alcohol.
> >
> > *John Reinan <jreinan at startribune.com>,* Star Tribune
> > When flight attendant Eva Buzek returned to Minneapolis from a trip to
> > France, five taxi drivers refused to take her home from the airport. The
> > reason? She had two bottles of wine in her suitcase -- and the drivers
> were
> > Muslims, who don't drink and refuse to have alcohol in their taxis.
> >
> > About three-quarters of the 900 taxi drivers at Minneapolis-St. Paul
> > International Airport are Somalis, many of them Muslim. And about three
> > times each day, would-be customers are refused taxi service when a
> driver
> > sees they're carrying alcohol.
> >
> > "It's become a significant customer-service issue," said Patrick Hogan,
> a
> > spokesman for the Metropolitan Airports Commission, on Thursday.
> >
> > Now the airports commission has a solution: color-coding the lights on
> the
> > taxi roofs to indicate whether a driver will accept a booze-toting fare.
> The
> > actual colors haven't been decided on yet, but commission officials met
> > Thursday with representatives of the taxi drivers and the Minnesota
> chapter
> > of the Muslim American Society to continue working on the plan.
> >
> > The airports commission has struggled with the issue for several years.
> > Alcohol is a serious concern for devout Muslims, said Hassan Mohamud, an
> > imam and vice president of the society. The Qur'an, Islam's holy book,
> > strictly forbids buying, selling, drinking or carrying alcohol.
> >
> > The observant drivers object only to transporting openly displayed
> alcohol,
> > said Ali Culed, a Somali Muslim who's been driving an airport cab for
> eight
> > years. They won't search passengers or quiz them about what's in their
> bags.
> >
> >
> > "It is a religious issue," Culed said. "I cannot force anybody to change
> > their belief, but not in my cab. I don't want the guilt. I just want to
> be
> > an innocent person."
> >
> > Hogan said taxi starters at curbside will look for duty-free bags with
> > bottles or other obvious signs of alcohol and steer riders to cabs whose
> > drivers don't object to booze.
> >
> > Buzek, the flight attendant, said she was refused service in March after
> she
> > told a driver to be careful with her suitcase because it had wine in it.
> > Other drivers in the taxi line passed the word, she said, and four more
> > refused her service. A dispatcher finally steered her to a driver who
> would
> > take the fare.
> >
> > Buzek, who grew up in Poland, said her treatment goes against American
> > values.
> >
> > "I came to this country and I didn't expect anybody to adjust to my
> needs,"
> > she said. "I don't want to impose my beliefs on anyone else. That's why
> I'm
> > in this country, because of the freedom.
> >
> > "What's going to be next? ... Do I have to cover my head?"
> >
> > Mohamud said that wouldn't happen.
> >
> > "According to Muslim law, a Muslim driver cannot question a person's
> faith
> > or beliefs," he said. "It's not a matter of the person, it's what the
> person
> > is carrying."
> >
> > If other religious issues come up, they'll be dealt with on a
> case-by-case
> > basis, Hogan said.
> >
> > "We can't promise that we can accommodate every religious belief," he
> said.
> > "Our interest is in making sure people can get a cab."
> >
> > John Reinan € 612-673-7402
> > __________________________________________________
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>
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