Middle Eastern Taxi Driver

No, I'm not talking about a potential arab remake of the Scorsese film... I'm talking about the Gulf Taxi Driver.

He is usually non-arab, or from another arab country (God forbid a local drive a taxi!! *Gasp*)
He may be grubby or clean. Most likely he will have a beard or stubble.
But most of all he is distinguished from his western counterpart by the fact that he will ask personal questions straight out (which isn’t really done in Australia.)

What’s more I find that almost always the first questions are always the same, and asked in the same order, as follows:
“Where are you from?”
“Are you married?”
“How old are you?”
Possible additional questions may include: “What religion are you?” and “Are you looking for a husband?”

And as sleezy and unprofessional as some of them may be, they may also be endearing, informative and entertaining.
A special mention goes to an indian driver I had in Dubai, called Khaled, who was an absolute darling and invaluable when it came to dealing with emirati customs at the cargo place!!