Call Me a Cabbie

I've been reading Bill Bryson's Notes on a Small Island, which are his observations of living in England. In the book he mentions his respect for London cab drivers who have to master "The Knowledge" in order to get a license. When I was flipping channels over the weekend I caught a bit of one of the most entertaining celebrity reality shows, "Call Me a Cabbie". It followed three UK celebrities, one who looked like a brunette Paris Hilton, as they attempt to master a two-mile radius of London and work as a cab driver. The show puts them through the process that a real cab driver goes through including mastering the knowledge which means all street names, landmarks, hospitals, hotels, restaurants, and the like in their district. They then showed the real students and celebrities working with the Knowledge Master (instructor) preparing for the oral test. It was intense! Basically the Knowledge Master would give the student a start and end point and without looking at a map, they have to verbally go through the route street by street. The only person I know who could do this is my dad. I have a new appreciation for the job. I don't know if other cities are so thorough with this transportation.