Cab drivers

Like I said before blogging to me consists of two things a) Commenting on news that I read, see, or hear, and b) Talking about something personal. Today I read in Elaph see the following link http://www.elaph.com/ElaphWeb/NewsPapers/2007/1/203417.htm that there are rising complaints about some Muslim cab drivers in the state of Minnesota, believed to be of Somali origins, selectively refuse to pick up passengers that are either having dogs with them, or consuming alcohol. I guess the Muslim drivers feel that the passengers are going to desecrate their cabs if the dogs were allowed to ride in it, and by the same token they feel that it is sinful to transport someone carrying alcohol beverage on him since the drivers may be considered an accomplice in the sin. According to the report, a religious scholar had advised them that they should refrain from doing that and it is perfectly alright to refuse servicing people like that. Now, give me a break, this is totally unacceptable and no one should fall for it. A cab driver is obligated to pick up anybody that is willing to pay for the service of transporting the passenger from point A to point B. The cab driver isn't a moral judge, he has no business of deciding who should and who shouldn't be riding in his cab, if he has problem with people with dogs or with people consuming alcohol then he should look for another job and leave the driving for someone else that doesn't mind transporting these people. Very soon the cab drivers will start saying that we aren't going to transport girls that are wearing short skirts because they are immodestly dressed, or we aren't going to transport women that aren't wearing Hijab. Since when cab drivers appointed themselves as moral judges?! I shouldn't be surprised because in Jordan many cab drivers follow the same pattern but only in the opposite direction, they would gladly run for the girls that are wearing short skirts and they would eschew from old infirm people walking with cane, in addition they get to decide whether the trunk of their car can get opened or not, more often than not the cab driver in Amman would tell you that the lock is inoperable so he doesn't have to bother himself to get out of the car and open the trunk. Worst of all he gets to decide if the destination that you are going to is appropriate or inappropriate, if he doesn't feel like driving you to that location he will give you five hundred excuses why he can't go there. I guess what I'm getting at in here is that the driver's attitude and not his faith is what determine his behavior. I bet that those Somali drivers are just plain nasty drivers and Islam has nothing to do with their decision not to pick up passengers with dogs or with alcohol, they just want to boost their own esteem by pretending that they have the right to refuse the service on religious ground. This comes at a time when religion specifically stated that necessities justify prohibitions. I don't know why cab drivers enjoy such a low self esteem, what I do hope that they don't use the faith be that the Muslim faith or any other faith to justify their ugly unacceptable behavior.