![]() ![]() Last Friday, Mustafiz along with many of his fellow workers, decided he simply could not go on any longer. (Please be sure to cover your mouth and nose whenever you cough and maintain 6' social distance whenever possible. Mustafiz later said he was grateful simply to have a fare. The cabbie assured his passenger not to worry, saying that such encounters are now the “new normal” and something we need to get accustomed to. He recalled picking up one customer who started coughing profusely and kept apologizing to Mustafiz. But he eventually realized there was no work to be had. (An observant Muslim, he has a grayish-white beard and wears traditional garb.) "If I’m destined to go, I will go.”Īs such, when the crisis began, Mustafiz kept taking passengers whenever he could find them. “Health and sickness come from God and God alone," he said. But he is trying hard to stay solvent during these difficult times.Įven as the coronavirus rapidly spreads across Chicagoland, Mustafiz has a fatalistic attitude about coming to work. Many of his colleagues who have purchased cab medallions via mortgages, only to see their value plummet in the age of Uber and Lyft, have fallen into foreclosure. “If I stop working, there is no money coming in,” he said. That's basically impossible for taxi drivers, but staying home isn't an option for Mustafiz. He said that while many cabbies have asked their respective companies for help with this issue, many of these drivers feel their requests have fallen on deaf ears.ĭuring the pandemic, the Center of Disease Control has urged the public to practice "social distancing," which includes maintaining at least a 6' distance from non-household members to avoid spreading the virus. What’s worse, he argued, is that there have been no significant provisions to help taxi drivers compete with ride-hail. “With the rise of Uber and Lyft, income has been slashed,” Mustafiz added. Restrictions from the city stifle us further." If I work, there is minimal pay since there are multiple taxes. “There are no paid sick days or vacation days. “It’s not like I have a 9-to-5 and can just clock out to make ends meet,” he said. Mustafiz said that the work structure and regulations associated with the taxi industry also make it challenging make a living. For example, Mustafiz said that as he has gotten older, he needs to use the restroom more frequently, which impacts how long he can work and how much money he can earn. A friendly gentleman to all his passengers, he views every interaction as a chance to experience and learn from the diversity that the world has to offer.Īll the same, the challenges of the job sometime outweigh the benefits. “I enjoy meeting all kinds of people and hearing their stories,” Mustafiz said. He has tried to take joy in his profession, but he and his colleagues are severely impacted by the deadly coronavirus pandemic. Little did he know that he would wind up driving a taxi for more than a quarter of a century. ![]() A former tea garden manager, he always thought he would be doing big things in the U.S. He hoped that it would be a family project as part of his greater American dream. Sixty-seven-year-old North Side resident Mustafiz Khan immigrated from Bangladesh to the Unites States in the hopes of establishing an orphanage. This article is based on an interview with the author’s father. ![]()
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