Our sincere thanks and gratitude to Laura S. Washington for her insightful column “Bootstrap theory works” (Op-Ed, Sept. 15). She captured the reason Yellow Cab Co./Chicago created the radio advertising about our drivers–they are “The American Dream” personified–and their stories are truly “all-American,” as she stated.
Too often we Chicagoans, and many others throughout the country, forget our pasts and portray cabbies as illiterate, ignorant and rude foreigners. Our country is great because of our racial, ethnic and cultural diversity; cab drivers are one great example of this. As Ms. Washington stated in her column, a friend of hers takes the time to talk with cab drivers and learns something of their backgrounds, hopes and dreams. Maybe others should talk to the cabbies. Who knows? They might become less prejudiced and more understanding.
We at Yellow are proud of our drivers, and we wanted them to know that. We also want Chicagoans and visitors to our great city to know that the person driving the cab they are in is just like them–hard working, productive, proud of their heritage and deserving of respect.
