The best they could do for me was a 2:00 pm - 10:00 pm shift. I'm not on the default schedule anymore, so I should be grateful for getting anything for a home night game. It was a 7:00 pm kickoff at Camp Randall, so I knew I'd get the business before the game, but it could easily die by 7:30, and stay dead until after 10:00. Somebody asked me how my day was going, on the way to the stadium, and I told them it was great so far, but in order for it to stay great, Penn State would have to blow out the Badgers. If the away team blows out the Badgers, the home fans will start leaving the stadium in disgust around half time, so it wouldn't stay dead until 10:00. My passenger wished me well, and noted that she wanted the Badgers to win.
The last stragglers went to the stadium during the first quarter. Those are all short rides, I ran a few. The dispatcher gave the score a few minutes into the game. Penn State 3 - Wisconsin 0, the Badgers would never catch Penn State, and it was indeed a blow out. Something like 41 - 7 during the beginning of the 3rd quarter. It got really busy, really quick. It was fat, as we say.
I came down Monroe and picked up a lady in front of The Grid, "Travis Terrace", she said.
I would turn left on Regent. I would take it slow until we got past the crowd, looking for another fare going short west. Yes, I split load flags with passengers already in. On a football Saturday, I do it frequently. I rolled up to the light at Monroe and Regent, and a couple of guys walked up to the cab, they wanted to go east, nope, can't help you, this lady is going west. Then we rolled past a couple who were waving, through the open window, they said State st., again, no help. Now it was a guy and girl sitting on the curb at the corner of Breeze and Regent, he tried to help her to her feet, she needed to go to detox, no thanks I don't need vomit in my cab right now, and past them we went. Then there was this older guy, waving in the dark, just past Lathrop. He was the last chance to get a second fare in, so I pulled over, and BINGO, he wanted to go to Hilldale. Get in sir.
Neither of these 2 folks were football fans, and they were both stone cold sober. Refreshing! The guy was 40 something, he said his bike had been stolen. He hadn't locked it, so it didn't surprise him, it was only a 20 dollar bike from St. Vinnies, anyway. I told him about my Raleigh that I got for a $3.00 fare from Busk, I ought to include that story some time.... I noted that they were both sober, and asked them if they were working the game. I figured concessions, selling bratwursts and hot dogs.
As we rode, they talked about living in Europe, he'd lived there for many years, she'd lived there for only a couple, but he knew the city she'd lived in. Lately he'd lived in Mexico. We dropped the lady off, and headed down Midvale, I said, "You must be independently wealthy."
No, he said, he was broke. He said he'd gambled all his money away. He said he had indeed been working the game, he was a ticket scalper.
"Wow, tell me about ticket scalping, if you're willing", I said. I'd always wanted to find out about it, they don't do too many Discovery Channel specials on ticket scalping. So, he told me about his trade. He travels all over the world scalping tickets. He gave me a brief tutorial on how to do it, and made a big point of noting the potential pit falls. 1) You can lose money! 2) Beware of counterfeit tickets! Hilldale was pretty close, so I pulled into the parking lot, and dropped him at his saloon of choice. He pulled out a big wad of twenties, $1,500.00 minimum, and paid me for the ride. I guess he had a passable day at work.
A few fares later, I was telling a lady in the cab about the scalper, and she said she'd had one arrested in Las Vegas when she was out there for a bowl game the Badgers had played in a few years ago. She said she was pretty amazed when she brought the cops back to where she'd bought the tickets, to arrest the scalper who'd sold them to her. He was still standing in the same place selling tickets. Why did she have the guy arrested? She'd been sold counterfeit tickets. The must have been pretty good fakes, the scalper certainly didn't know he'd sold her bad tickets. If he had, he would not have hung around. Kind of makes me wonder, how many people that counterfeiter ripped at that bowl game.
It was a great shift, even if it was only a 2 to 10!
Showing posts with label Badger football. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Badger football. Show all posts
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Special days, like the Big 10 home opener
Any cab driver will tell you, days are not created equal. Some are simply better than others. New Years Eve, or New Years Day for day drivers, is one of those great days to work. Here in Madison, Big 10 game days and nights, as well as days like Halloween are also big days.
When I started driving, they served beer in Camp Randall. You could smell stale beer 2 blocks away on a game day. The Badgers had mediocre to poor football teams, and the emphasis was on fun. Activities like body passing were common, and the student section was a lot of fun. The band was great too. Everybody had a great time except the coach and players. It must have been kind of rough, usually getting run over by every visiting team in front of the home crowd.
The best place to sit in a cab, waiting for passengers, was in the little parking lot, right outside of the ticket office. It wasn't quite possible to see the game from there, but you could certainly hear the crowd cheer or moan, and I never cared who won anyway. Football is for having fun. Football is for making money. Is somebody supposed to win? Are you supposed to care? If you're having fun and making money, what more do you want?
The Badgers are getting whupped by the California Golden Bears that Saturday. I don't recall the score, but it wasn't even close. People started leaving around half time. This is great for a cab driver. The last stragglers will go to the game at the end of half time, so if people start leaving just as the last people arrive, you stay busy all afternoon. The only thing you have to watch out for is the massive traffic jam that happens when the game finishes. If you're good, and I am, you can even slip through that, usually.
These 2 drunk guys came out and got in the cab. The game is close to finished, but the traffic jam hasn't started yet. They're showing me the fake binoculars, which is really a flask that holds close to a liter. Hee hee hee, ho ho ho, wooo hoo, boy are we drunk!!!! Wah hah!! These guys are around 35 to 40, and in real life, they're probably solid citizens in some small town up north, but it's Badger football in party city, and they're both hammered. They say their car is somewhere out by the cemeteries, so what they need is a pretty short ride out Regent st.
We hadn't cleared the parking lot, when the older of the 2 asked the most classic of all passenger questions, "What's the most off the wall thing anybody's ever done in your cab?"
"Well, nobody's ever mooned out of my cab before", I said. I was thinking, that'll shut 'em up. Wrong! In those days we drove cars with mechanical windows, so if a passenger in the back seat wanted to crank down the window, there was no way to stop him. It took about 30 seconds for that older and more respectable of the 2, to have that window cranked down, and to have his bare butt hanging out of it. The other one, had the other window open, and was sheiking out the window, "Whoooooooooo, whooooooooooo, whooooooooooop", all the way down Regent street. That bozo was mooning all the fans, adults, kids, and little old ladies. Doing it right there in broad daylight. Henceforth, I would only ever be able to say, no woman ever mooned out of my cab, and to this day, no woman ever has. BUT!!! One time I did see 3 little muffies at the corner of State and Lake, mooning State street in general.
My football Saturday was complete, about 30 minutes later, when I got Mookie the Bear in my cab, with a couple of Cal cheerleaders. Mookie the Bear? The Cal mascot!!!! I've never had Bucky in my cab, but I did have Mookie the Bear once.
When I started driving, they served beer in Camp Randall. You could smell stale beer 2 blocks away on a game day. The Badgers had mediocre to poor football teams, and the emphasis was on fun. Activities like body passing were common, and the student section was a lot of fun. The band was great too. Everybody had a great time except the coach and players. It must have been kind of rough, usually getting run over by every visiting team in front of the home crowd.
The best place to sit in a cab, waiting for passengers, was in the little parking lot, right outside of the ticket office. It wasn't quite possible to see the game from there, but you could certainly hear the crowd cheer or moan, and I never cared who won anyway. Football is for having fun. Football is for making money. Is somebody supposed to win? Are you supposed to care? If you're having fun and making money, what more do you want?
The Badgers are getting whupped by the California Golden Bears that Saturday. I don't recall the score, but it wasn't even close. People started leaving around half time. This is great for a cab driver. The last stragglers will go to the game at the end of half time, so if people start leaving just as the last people arrive, you stay busy all afternoon. The only thing you have to watch out for is the massive traffic jam that happens when the game finishes. If you're good, and I am, you can even slip through that, usually.
These 2 drunk guys came out and got in the cab. The game is close to finished, but the traffic jam hasn't started yet. They're showing me the fake binoculars, which is really a flask that holds close to a liter. Hee hee hee, ho ho ho, wooo hoo, boy are we drunk!!!! Wah hah!! These guys are around 35 to 40, and in real life, they're probably solid citizens in some small town up north, but it's Badger football in party city, and they're both hammered. They say their car is somewhere out by the cemeteries, so what they need is a pretty short ride out Regent st.
We hadn't cleared the parking lot, when the older of the 2 asked the most classic of all passenger questions, "What's the most off the wall thing anybody's ever done in your cab?"
"Well, nobody's ever mooned out of my cab before", I said. I was thinking, that'll shut 'em up. Wrong! In those days we drove cars with mechanical windows, so if a passenger in the back seat wanted to crank down the window, there was no way to stop him. It took about 30 seconds for that older and more respectable of the 2, to have that window cranked down, and to have his bare butt hanging out of it. The other one, had the other window open, and was sheiking out the window, "Whoooooooooo, whooooooooooo, whooooooooooop", all the way down Regent street. That bozo was mooning all the fans, adults, kids, and little old ladies. Doing it right there in broad daylight. Henceforth, I would only ever be able to say, no woman ever mooned out of my cab, and to this day, no woman ever has. BUT!!! One time I did see 3 little muffies at the corner of State and Lake, mooning State street in general.
My football Saturday was complete, about 30 minutes later, when I got Mookie the Bear in my cab, with a couple of Cal cheerleaders. Mookie the Bear? The Cal mascot!!!! I've never had Bucky in my cab, but I did have Mookie the Bear once.
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