Many people catch a cab and never think twice about it. After all, driving is such an automatic process for most people that we assume being a taxi driver is easy. However, professional cab drivers deal with quite a few issues that the average nine-to-fiver would find unacceptable or, at the least, undesirable. Here are some things you didn't know about the secret lives of taxi drivers.

Drivers Often Lease or Rent Their Cars

In a lot of cities, drivers must rent or lease their cars from the taxi service itself. Often, the fee to do so is more than the average mortgage payment, paid in advance for the week or month. This means that cabbies often work very long hours to make the cost of the car worth it. Starting out each pay period in the hole by hundreds of dollars motivates taxi drivers to work long, odd hours in the hopes of bringing in the fares.

Taxi Drivers Deal with Gross Problems

If someone makes a mess in the bathroom at your corporate job, you call maintenance. Taxi drivers have no such luxury. Bodily fluids, spilled food and drink, and dirty diapers are all left behind for the driver to clean up. Most of them carry cleaning supplies and disposable gloves in the trunk for these occasions. If the mess or the smell is too awful to continue working, the driver may be able to swap his car for another in the company's fleet. That is, if they have one that is available.

Being a Driver is Dangerous

In New York City, one out of every three taxi drivers has been threatened with a deadly weapon for either the car, their money, or both. Drivers deal with belligerent drunks, those high on drugs, and the mentally unstable on a daily basis. They have no idea who is going to hop in the back seat from a roadside cab stand. The results are sometimes deadly.

There Are Reasons Why Service is Denied

No, you cannot seat four people in the back seat if there are only three seat belts. No, you cannot put an unaccompanied child in the back and send him to his mother across town. And no, you cannot hire a taxi driver to take 'a package' to an address you specify and leave it there. All of these scenarios leave the driver open to being involved in or accused of illegal activities. While it may be perfectly innocuous, the driver is not going to break safety laws, be responsible for a child, or be a messenger service for any amount of money. The driver could lose their job or their permit to work.

The life of a taxi driver is always interesting and varied, which is why some people are drawn to it and decide to make it their career. Others simply moonlight to make some extra cash on the side. Keep these tips in mind the next time you catch a cab, and give the driver a nice tip. He or she deserves it!