Taxi or life?

It used to be, when the Soviet Union, the taxi drivers have been privileged caste, and therefore the car, ordered in a single all-Union center of a taxi, had to wait hours, even in a small town, where distances are trivial. Furthermore, we know a lot of facts, fraudulent drivers who not only what they could namudrili the counter, and throw unsuspecting passengers on the money ... in the cards. After the collapse of the Union in the field of transport services at all the dark times came in the taxi car drivers at the airport retrained many of the remaining unemployed doctors, teachers, soldiers, scientists, and other categories of citizens who could not get in life. However, in the '90s the profession of a taxi driver in Russia was extremely dangerous: to deprive of life and a hundred, and even the top ten. Yes, and sits in a taxi as a passenger was also dangerous - you could fall into the hands of murderers or robbers, who watched for his victims, money and valuables were collected and taken away in an unknown direction. Today in Russia the situation with a taxi service has changed, however, citizens will no longer be afraid to use the services of city cab drivers and vote without fear, even on the streets in the evening and night. However, today, and a taxi in Russia has its own quirks, safe for life, but sometimes suggestive. A case in point is, of course, not of drivers working in the official taxi companies that do try to bring the service quality to the European, but the privateers, which in every Russian city of more than cars on the roads. It is no accident during Euro 2008, the inhabitants of Albion was surprised to note that What a rarity in Russia - on the streets every other car - a potential taxi. But back to the private city cabbies. First of all, price. Today, not a fact that the owner-driver podvezet you twice cheaper than for example the official airport taxi, as it was before, but on the contrary, seeing that you're not low on money, try under any pretext of noble request from you as much as possible. Second, the quality of such services, as a rule, makes you wonder. And it's not that many bombs on old Zhiguli, and that the driver will carry you through the longest in the cabin to smoke, and do not help unload the luggage. Therefore, those who frequently use the services of taxis, especially over long distances, is thoughtful and not advantageous to order the car at the official taxi company?