THERE'S an old joke about how the people best qualified to run a country aren't doing so because they are too busy cutting hair and driving taxis.

Barbers and cabbies have gained almost legendary status for having opinions on just about every subject, from the weather to current events to sports and, perhaps most importantly now, politics.

Deciding to put the opinion on their opinions to the test, I went on an opinion-gathering exercise.

First stop was at my regular barber, Selvam -- a gentle giant of a man from Tamil Nadu in India. Using the pretext of needing a shave to shamelessly pump him for his opinion, I settled down comfortably in his chair.

As he lathered foam all over my face and began whittling my fuzz away, I asked him what he thought of the upcoming elections.

Selvam's razor stopped alarmingly close to my jugular as a pensive look came into his eyes.

"I've stopped watching my usual MGR and Sivaji Ganesan movies for a while. The news coverage on your elections are just as entertaining.

"I'm seeing banners in the shape of planes, some candidates talking like gangsters, a lot of them calling each other names and even a granny campaigning on a bike! It's really fun," he said, the pressure from the razor giving me none-too-comforting mental recollections of actor Johnny Depp grimly slitting customers' throats in his latest incarnation as Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

But what does he think of the government? Is he happy? Does he think the opposition can do better?

"To be frank, I don't really care. At the end of the day, I'm just here to earn a living and send as much as I can back to my family in India," he said.

Disappointed at not getting a story, but happy that my head was still on my shoulders, I exited the barber and went in search of a cabbie.

It didn't take too long to find one. A gentle-looking Chinese man who looked about 350 years old, the change that came over him when I brought up politics scared the daylights out of me.

His eyes blazed, his voice became more strident than that of any of our politicians at a ceramah and his driving, which had previously been sedate bordering on the catatonic, became worthy of being in the Lewis Hamilton league.

As I cast an imploring glance at the deity mounted on his dashboard, he launched into an animated tirade, the content of which is not proper to be printed. He was unhappy with the government, distrustful of the opposition and unclear on whom to vote for.

What was the reason for his discontent? Among others, rising petrol prices, lack of NGV stations and the increased cost of living.

So, what should be done about the whole thing?

"How would I know? If I did, I would be in politics myself!"

Now, who could argue with that logic?

"If these fellows want to stand for office and if they want to win my vote, they'd better come up with answers for me."

Brakes screeched as I was unceremoniously deposited at my stop. As I walked away, I decided that the assumptions about barbers and cabbies was a myth on par with Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster and little green men from Mars.

Either that, or I just had the bad luck to speak to the two least "knowledgeable" members of their noble professions.