The silent stares from the backseat in the last two weeks finally got to cabbie Sokhi Singh.
So Singh, who wears a turban and a beard in observance of his Sikh beliefs, has developed a quick speech to break through what he believes is the cause of the silence.
He tells customers that he is from India, he is a Sikh, and that those in the Sikh religion are peace-loving people who abhor violence.
The bottom line of his message: I do not support terrorism at all, I am upset by the attacks, so don’t hold me responsible.
“I feel so sad,” said Singh, 45. Since the terrorist attacks, teenagers have thrown eggs at his car and he’s heard more than a few ugly words yelled at him from the street.
The experiences make a hard time for the taxicab industry that much more difficult for Arab-American drivers.
With fewer hotel visitors and travelers to shuttle around, cabbies say business has been painfully slow since the terrorist attacks.
Waiting for a fare in a long line of cabs outside of a downtown hotel, Mohammed Atif said that after paying his cab lease, he was able to take home only $100 last week.
That’s at least $400 less than he usually counts on to pay the bills.
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“Business-wise and otherwise, it’s been hard,” Atif said.
Some Chicago cab companies have responded by discounting the daily lease fee or giving drivers a few days’ grace period to make their lease payments.
Others are offering customers discounts to drum up business.
At ABO Taxi Association, owner Joe Fori said more than half of the association’s 85 drivers have had to give up their cabs at least for a time because they couldn’t pull in enough in fares to cover their leases.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do,” he said.
George Yakubov, manager of Flash Cab Co., agreed.
“We try to work it out to help our drivers, but we have bills too,” he said.
Some drivers of Middle Eastern descent fear they will be the victims of violence because of their background, Yakubov said. He said he is unaware of any incidents.
Although Chicago police said they have no documented reports of violence against Arab cabbies since the attacks, drivers offer up plenty of anecdotal evidence that discrimination is up.
“There have been several instances where our drivers stop to pick up the passenger and the passenger looks at the driver and says when they turn around, `I’m sorry, I have to take another cab,'” said John Lee, general manager of Sun Taxi Association.
That has prompted some Arab-American drivers to go out of their way to be extra friendly to customers.
They’ve also put up American flags in their cabs to reassure customers of their allegiance to the country.
Singh has three flags displayed in his cab. “Still, when they get in cab, they see the face, then they get quiet inside,” he said.
Mohammad Baig said that while business is the worst that it has been in the 12 years that he has driven a cab, he is looking to the future.
“Time is a healer,” he said.