Definitely was a normal thing in my country (Australia) for many drivers to have a card that you could call them directly. When my father used to commute to ano

Definitely was a normal thing in my country (Australia) for many drivers to have a card that you could call them directly. When my father used to commute to another city for a couple of years (mid 2000s), he had happened across a good taxi driver, got his card, and then called him up directly the day before to book the next morning's trip to the airport every week. He knew him by name, and they'd have a chat on the trip. He'd be driving, he'd just take the call on the hands-free. Even a couple of years ago on a business trip to Spain, the guys at the company there had a taxi driver they knew who they got to take me to their facility. Then I just organised with him to pick me up each day at a certain time when I paid. Beats me having to get the hotel or the company to keep having to call for cabs and beats him having to wait for fares. Finally, I'm very surprised that you can't imagine somebody being rude to a low-wage worker...