Despite the trade protection their firm gets, the money is low, particularly considering outlay, hours and conditions. Yet the quality of the experience is cons

Despite the trade protection their firm gets, the money is low, particularly considering outlay, hours and conditions. Yet the quality of the experience is consistently good in a city where service is often poor. I'm interested to know what causes this: whether it's due to the discipline (the thrill of navigating a puzzle, like a unix operator gets), or the institution (feeling like you're part of something important). I had a freaky conversation with a driver last winter about messaging systems. He knew all the right questions after I told him what I did, and made comments about the particular technologies. It came out that we were working on the opposite ends of a big integration between firms. He was unhappy with that life and very comfortable at the prospect of spending the rest of his days driving a cab around.