闫克文

“It’s hard to get the job you dream of.”

You look pretty young to be a taxi driver, most taxi drivers seem like they are in their 30’s or 40’s.

Young? How young do you think I am?

I’d say 27.

You’ve got a good eye. I am 27.

So you can’t have been driving for that long?

I’ve been driving taxis for… oh, 6 years now.

Has all of that been in Nanjing?

No, I’ve only been here for about… 4 years now.

And before that? Where were you before that?

I was in Hunan.

[Pause]

You aren’t that old either are you?

I’m 22.

So a few years younger than me?

Yes, I’m still young. Do you live here in Nanjing by yourself?

By myself? No, I live with my family.

Your parents?

My parents? My son is 6 years old!

You have a son?

Soon I’ll have a daughter as well. My wife is 8 months pregnant with a baby girl.

That’s wonderful! Are you excited?

Of course I’m excited, having a child is a great thing.

I bet you’re not looking forward to the late night diaper changings and feedings though.

Oh I don’t mind, that’s my wife’s job.

She does all of that?

Yes, I have to work, so she does all of that so I can focus on making money.

I don’t think it would be easy. On a normal day how long do you work?

Oh, I go out at 6 or 7 in the morning.

And when do you get done for the day?

I usually go home around midnight.

And how has business been today?

It could be better.

So, right now, before the baby is born, does your wife work?

Oh yes she works, she’s a taxi driver as well.

How will that work after she has the baby?

She’ll still need to work, we need the money.

Will she take the baby in the car with her when she drives?

Oh no. She’ll stay home for a few months, maybe a year, and then we’ll take the baby to daycare

so that she can start working again.

And your son, does she take him with her ever or do you take him to a daycare?

No, he goes to school! This is his first year.

How is it paying tuition? I hear that tuition over here is expensive.

Oh, it’s not that bad. Tuition doesn’t really get that expensive until high school.

And high school here in China is very competitive isn’t it?

Yes, very competitive. I hated it.

You hated it?

Yes, just looking at a book makes me want to fall asleep. That’s why I dropped out, my wife did too.

Did you and your wife grow up together?

No, when I was 19 my friend introduced us. We dated for 2 years and then got

married. One year later our son was born.

And it was around that time that you started driving taxis?

That was when we first got married and we needed money. I took the test and passed, and then

we started saving money so that we could move to the city and drive taxis here.

Is this what you always want to do, drive taxis?

No! No, I don’t always want to be a taxi driver. This is just a job for now. It’s just a path to a different job.

Do you know what job you’d like to do?

No, they’re all the same to me. Just as long as I can make money, that’s enough for me.

You just know that you don’t want to drive taxis for the rest of your life?

The poverty gap here in China is too big. The rich people are very rich and the poor people are very poor. I want to be one of the rich people.

What do the rich people here in China do?

Well… they do so many things. I’d say if there was one general characteristic that they all have

it would be that they don’t really do much work, with their hands I mean, but they still

get paid a lot of money.

So, like your boss, would you say he is rich?

Yes.

And he probably doesn’t do much driving or manual labor?

No, none at all. That’s my dream job. It’s just hard to get the job you dream of.

Why is that?

There are so many people here. You just have to get into something, anything really, and

then you have to get lucky.