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.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
I like this Australian drivers blog
We work the same hours, 3:00 pm - 3:00 am, but other wise we are opposites, when it's night here it's day there, when it's summer here, it's winter there. He sounds like a decent sort of guy, just a cab driver, trying to earn a living. Nothing exciting, but all cab driving.
http://canberracabbie.livejournal.com
http://canberracabbie.livejournal.com
Monday, September 29, 2008
Paradise Driver: I TOLD YOU SO!#links#links#links
Paradise Driver: I TOLD YOU SO!#links#links#links
I like this guy's blog. He has a list of cab driver blog links that's a mile long, a bunch in foriegn languages, and a bunch of good cartoons, and, well, I have to spend more time checking it out. It's pretty cool, even if the content is mostly non cab, except for the cab driver links.
Oh, yeah, he has a big section that has, on this date....... Well, on this date, 9/29/2008, my father died. I hope there is a heaven, and I hope he's there. Bye dad. When the reality of it truely sinks in, I'll weep, but it hasn't yet. It will.
I like this guy's blog. He has a list of cab driver blog links that's a mile long, a bunch in foriegn languages, and a bunch of good cartoons, and, well, I have to spend more time checking it out. It's pretty cool, even if the content is mostly non cab, except for the cab driver links.
Oh, yeah, he has a big section that has, on this date....... Well, on this date, 9/29/2008, my father died. I hope there is a heaven, and I hope he's there. Bye dad. When the reality of it truely sinks in, I'll weep, but it hasn't yet. It will.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Cat fight
It was a really slow night. When there's nothing to do, you can either sit or drive around. Since cab rent is paid by the mile, I usually prefer to find someplace to sit. On this night, I'd gotten a fare out of The Lodge, it looked like they were throwing a party, so I decided to sit in the alley facing their front door. It turned out to be a good decision. I'd gotten a few fares who saw the cab sitting right there, and asked for a ride. The rides all went a short distance, I'd get empty and hurry back to wait for another.
The Lodge is a frat house, Xsi Psi. It's located on Iota ct., which is the heart of fraternity row. It sits on about 100 feet of lakefront lot, which slopes steeply down to the water. It's about a block and a half walk from the house to campus. They say that all Xsi Psi houses, on what ever campus they exist, are called The Lodge, I wouldn't know. It's a nice looking building from the outside, inside, well it's a frat, so I'm sure it looks like one.
These 2 guys come out and ask for a ride. One is average size, one is a big man, about the right size to be a lineman on the football team. The big man sits in the front seat, the little man sits in back. From the time they sit down, the big man keeps saying, "God was she hot. God was she hot."
The little man just rode in the back seat. They wanted to go to Bradley Hall. Bradley Hall, is in the lakeshore dorms, it was the last "jock" dorm, and at the time was still all male. In the 90's, the university in it's infinite wisdom, converted all the dorms to co-ed. Back at the time of this night, there were still 2 non co-ed dorms, Bradley and Liz, Liz was all female, many called it The Virgin Vault. They got out at Bradley Hall, paid me, and I headed straight back to my spot in the alley opposite the front door to The Lodge.
I took a couple of other rides, that I have long since forgotten about, and was again waiting, when 4 girls came out of the door and asked for a ride. They wanted to go to Monona, which is way off campus. I told them to get in, and was just about to pull away, when the front door again opened, and a guy accompanied by 2 women walked out into the night air. The girl on the passenger side of the front seat, and the girl behind me, immediately had the car doors open, and were standing with their hands on the top's of the open doors, screaming obscenities at the trio that had just come out of the front door of The Lodge. They were screaming threats, and curses, things like, 'I ought to kick your ass bitch.'
These girls weren't acting much like college girls, to my thinking. I immediately told them that if they wanted a ride, they needed to get in the cab and shut the doors. If they didn't want a ride, they needed to get out. Ladies, do you want a ride or not? Make up your mind. If you don't make up your mind, I'll make it up for you and kick you out of the cab. One last time, if you want a ride, sit down and close the doors, otherwise, get out. They sat down and closed the doors. It took a minute to pin down where exactly they wanted to go. They wanted to go to Pflaum rd. pretty close to LaFollette HS. Once we had the destination pinned down, I put the cab in gear, and we were off.
I pulled around the corner on to Henry St. and up the steep hill to the stop sign at Langdon st. When I stopped at Henry and Langdon, the 2 girls and the guy they'd been yelling at were crossing the street, they were walking right in front of the cab. It was too much for the girls in the cab. The girl from the front seat, and the girl from the seat behind me were out the doors and attacking the girls crossing the street in an instant, as soon as the cab stopped. I looked at the open doors, and the fight going on in front of the cab in the middle of the street, and there was only one thing to do, I keyed the mike and asked the dispatcher for the police. The dispatcher asked why I wanted the police, and I calmly described the situation, he said ok and a minute later said the cops were on the way.
The 2 girls remaining in the cab, had listened to me call the police, and they sat there like nothing had happened. I was amazed! I told them that the police were coming, and they might want to go pull their friends off their 2 victims before the cops arrived. The fight going on in front of the cab was pretty amazing, one of the 2 girls had been throwing standing kicks to the chest of her opponent. They were pulling hair, and slugging their victims with closed fists, and it was obvious that these 2 girls who were going to Monona knew how to fight. It was equally obvious that the 2 girls they were attacking did not know how to fight. The poor guy was having no success pulling my passengers off his friends, and he was getting beat up pretty bad too. When I told the 2 girls in the cab that they might want to pull their friends off, they jumped out of the cab and did so.
After the the girls going to Monona were pulled off, to my great amazement, all four of them got back in the cab. The 2 girls who had gotten beat up, and their male companion, got up and quickly walked down Langdon st., in the direction of campus. I pulled the cab up in front of the building on the far side of the intersection and parked. One of the girls in the back seat asked why we weren't going any where. I told her that once the cops are called, I have to wait for the cops to come. She said ok, and they just sat there. Again, I was pretty amazed.
Around 10 minutes later, the cops got there. I recall my conversation with the officer pretty well, I told her exactly what had happened. She just shrugged and said, she didn't have a victim, without a victim she didn't have a crime, and that being the case, we were all free to go. So, we left. Off to Monona.
The girls in the cab forgot the whole incident pretty quick. You'd think they would have been livid about me calling the cops, but they acted as if nothing had happened. The girl in the front seat, the really tough one, started saying, "God, was he hot."
The girl in the front seat wasn't bad looking. She wasn't stunningly beautiful, but she was was certainly ok. She had short dark hair, was about 5' 5", had an average build, and was wearing average looking clothes. She kept repeating to herself, "God, was he hot." Monona was a long ride, so I listened to this for a while, and finally asked her, "What did he look like, anyway?"
She had this dreamy quality to the look on her face, and the tone of her voice. She said that he was a big man, about 6'5", with a really muscular build. He had short hair, and was wearing, what ever it was she said he was wearing, and that he was a really good dancer.
She was describing the guy who went to Bradley hall. She was describing the guy who'd said, "God, was she hot.", all the way back to his dorm. No question about it.
I told her, "You know, the guy you're talking about took a cab home a little while before you came out of that frat party, and all the way back to his dorm, he said exactly what you're saying, 'God, was she hot.'"
"Stop the cab! I want to go to Bradley hall. I want his baby!", she blurted out.
I told her that Bradley hall was security locked, and if I took them there she wouldn't be able to get in this late at night. Even if she did get in, this late at night, she wouldn't know what room he lived in, and she'd have no way of finding him. She sighed, and said nothing. Apparently, they'd danced the night away, without exchanging names.
When we got to their destination on Pflaum rd., they paid me and started walking off in 3 different directions. It was then obvious they had asked for the point where the walk to each ones home was about the same distance. I didn't care, I was paid. I even knew what the fight was over. These girls were obviously high school students. The girls who had gotten beat up, and took off walking in the direction of the dorms, they were pretty obviously college students. The college girls probably made a big deal out of the underage girls being at the party. It was kind of amusing, but I didn't care much, they were out of the cab. I went looking for my next ride.
The Lodge is a frat house, Xsi Psi. It's located on Iota ct., which is the heart of fraternity row. It sits on about 100 feet of lakefront lot, which slopes steeply down to the water. It's about a block and a half walk from the house to campus. They say that all Xsi Psi houses, on what ever campus they exist, are called The Lodge, I wouldn't know. It's a nice looking building from the outside, inside, well it's a frat, so I'm sure it looks like one.
These 2 guys come out and ask for a ride. One is average size, one is a big man, about the right size to be a lineman on the football team. The big man sits in the front seat, the little man sits in back. From the time they sit down, the big man keeps saying, "God was she hot. God was she hot."
The little man just rode in the back seat. They wanted to go to Bradley Hall. Bradley Hall, is in the lakeshore dorms, it was the last "jock" dorm, and at the time was still all male. In the 90's, the university in it's infinite wisdom, converted all the dorms to co-ed. Back at the time of this night, there were still 2 non co-ed dorms, Bradley and Liz, Liz was all female, many called it The Virgin Vault. They got out at Bradley Hall, paid me, and I headed straight back to my spot in the alley opposite the front door to The Lodge.
I took a couple of other rides, that I have long since forgotten about, and was again waiting, when 4 girls came out of the door and asked for a ride. They wanted to go to Monona, which is way off campus. I told them to get in, and was just about to pull away, when the front door again opened, and a guy accompanied by 2 women walked out into the night air. The girl on the passenger side of the front seat, and the girl behind me, immediately had the car doors open, and were standing with their hands on the top's of the open doors, screaming obscenities at the trio that had just come out of the front door of The Lodge. They were screaming threats, and curses, things like, 'I ought to kick your ass bitch.'
These girls weren't acting much like college girls, to my thinking. I immediately told them that if they wanted a ride, they needed to get in the cab and shut the doors. If they didn't want a ride, they needed to get out. Ladies, do you want a ride or not? Make up your mind. If you don't make up your mind, I'll make it up for you and kick you out of the cab. One last time, if you want a ride, sit down and close the doors, otherwise, get out. They sat down and closed the doors. It took a minute to pin down where exactly they wanted to go. They wanted to go to Pflaum rd. pretty close to LaFollette HS. Once we had the destination pinned down, I put the cab in gear, and we were off.
I pulled around the corner on to Henry St. and up the steep hill to the stop sign at Langdon st. When I stopped at Henry and Langdon, the 2 girls and the guy they'd been yelling at were crossing the street, they were walking right in front of the cab. It was too much for the girls in the cab. The girl from the front seat, and the girl from the seat behind me were out the doors and attacking the girls crossing the street in an instant, as soon as the cab stopped. I looked at the open doors, and the fight going on in front of the cab in the middle of the street, and there was only one thing to do, I keyed the mike and asked the dispatcher for the police. The dispatcher asked why I wanted the police, and I calmly described the situation, he said ok and a minute later said the cops were on the way.
The 2 girls remaining in the cab, had listened to me call the police, and they sat there like nothing had happened. I was amazed! I told them that the police were coming, and they might want to go pull their friends off their 2 victims before the cops arrived. The fight going on in front of the cab was pretty amazing, one of the 2 girls had been throwing standing kicks to the chest of her opponent. They were pulling hair, and slugging their victims with closed fists, and it was obvious that these 2 girls who were going to Monona knew how to fight. It was equally obvious that the 2 girls they were attacking did not know how to fight. The poor guy was having no success pulling my passengers off his friends, and he was getting beat up pretty bad too. When I told the 2 girls in the cab that they might want to pull their friends off, they jumped out of the cab and did so.
After the the girls going to Monona were pulled off, to my great amazement, all four of them got back in the cab. The 2 girls who had gotten beat up, and their male companion, got up and quickly walked down Langdon st., in the direction of campus. I pulled the cab up in front of the building on the far side of the intersection and parked. One of the girls in the back seat asked why we weren't going any where. I told her that once the cops are called, I have to wait for the cops to come. She said ok, and they just sat there. Again, I was pretty amazed.
Around 10 minutes later, the cops got there. I recall my conversation with the officer pretty well, I told her exactly what had happened. She just shrugged and said, she didn't have a victim, without a victim she didn't have a crime, and that being the case, we were all free to go. So, we left. Off to Monona.
The girls in the cab forgot the whole incident pretty quick. You'd think they would have been livid about me calling the cops, but they acted as if nothing had happened. The girl in the front seat, the really tough one, started saying, "God, was he hot."
The girl in the front seat wasn't bad looking. She wasn't stunningly beautiful, but she was was certainly ok. She had short dark hair, was about 5' 5", had an average build, and was wearing average looking clothes. She kept repeating to herself, "God, was he hot." Monona was a long ride, so I listened to this for a while, and finally asked her, "What did he look like, anyway?"
She had this dreamy quality to the look on her face, and the tone of her voice. She said that he was a big man, about 6'5", with a really muscular build. He had short hair, and was wearing, what ever it was she said he was wearing, and that he was a really good dancer.
She was describing the guy who went to Bradley hall. She was describing the guy who'd said, "God, was she hot.", all the way back to his dorm. No question about it.
I told her, "You know, the guy you're talking about took a cab home a little while before you came out of that frat party, and all the way back to his dorm, he said exactly what you're saying, 'God, was she hot.'"
"Stop the cab! I want to go to Bradley hall. I want his baby!", she blurted out.
I told her that Bradley hall was security locked, and if I took them there she wouldn't be able to get in this late at night. Even if she did get in, this late at night, she wouldn't know what room he lived in, and she'd have no way of finding him. She sighed, and said nothing. Apparently, they'd danced the night away, without exchanging names.
When we got to their destination on Pflaum rd., they paid me and started walking off in 3 different directions. It was then obvious they had asked for the point where the walk to each ones home was about the same distance. I didn't care, I was paid. I even knew what the fight was over. These girls were obviously high school students. The girls who had gotten beat up, and took off walking in the direction of the dorms, they were pretty obviously college students. The college girls probably made a big deal out of the underage girls being at the party. It was kind of amusing, but I didn't care much, they were out of the cab. I went looking for my next ride.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Cabs Are For Kissing: Feathers In My Bald Spot
I'm just finding out how to work all the blog bells and whistles. For my own use, keeping track of other good blogs, these create a link features are really nice.
Cabs Are For Kissing: Feathers In My Bald Spot
Cabs Are For Kissing: Feathers In My Bald Spot
Ruby
I was on my way to work and I was approaching my turn off East Washington onto Few st. About a hundred yards up, something strange caught my eye. It looked like an animal rolling around in the street. Being the curious person that I am, I decided to go and rubberneck the thing in the street instead of going straight to work.
When I got close to the animal in the street, I could see it was a dog. The dog was rolling around on it's back, snarling and snapping at the air, barking, and carrying on intensely. It was pretty obvious that it had been hit by a car. East Washington is a really big street, it's divided with a median strip in the middle, and has 2 traffic lanes plus a parking lane on each side. Parked just before the dog rolling around was a City of Madison dump truck with 2 bozo's, smoking cigarettes, sitting in it. The dog was in the right hand lane. I stopped my pickup truck just about even with the city truck in the right hand lane to stop traffic, I didn't get run over while I checked out this injured dog. I could now see the dog's head was covered with blood.
I was just stepping out onto the street and the driver of the dump truck hailed me. He grinned and said that the cops were on their way to shoot the dog. I just glared back at him, and approached the dog. I was going to pick up that dog and take it to the vet. I didn't even think about it. What I did think about was getting bit in the face. I knew I was going to get bit in the face, there was no question in my mind, I was going to get bit in the face. I was just out of biting range of the dog when I hesitated. I turned my face to the side as far as it would go, looked away, bent over, slid my arms under the dog, and lifted her off the ground.
To my utter amazement, I did not get bit. The dog immediately stopped snarling and started to whimper. She was crying. I was still sure I was going to get bit. With my head turned as far away as possible from the creature in my arms, I carried her back to my pickup and put her on the passenger side of the seat. Up close, I could see that she had a big gash on the top of her head, but not too much else wrong with her. She'd probably been hit by that jerk in the city truck, the dump truck was high enough off the road to clip the dog's head without crushing the dog like a car or pickup would. Probably on purpose. And he was waiting for the cops. Taking an extra break, and smoking a few extra cigarettes. Life sure is cheap isn't it? I knew where I'd take her.
A couple of blocks from the cab company, is a vet's office. My own dog was one of Dr. Mike's patients, and I had an account there. I was glad to see that it was open early. I took one last look at the poor pup lying on my front seat, sobbing, and went into the vet's office. The vet tech asked if he could help me, and I said yes he could. I gave him my name, said I was a client, and that I had a really beautiful Irish Setter in my pickup truck that had been hit by a car. Put the dog on my tab, it has no collar. I'm late for work, I'll check back later in the day and see how the dog is doing, it's got a big gash on it's head.
Finally, since I was lucky, and did not get bit while I was picking the dog up off the street and putting it on my seat, and have not so far been bitten today, would it be possible for you to get the dog out of my pickup truck and bring it in? She's just lying there whimpering, but you do this for a living, and I already took my chance at getting bit. I'm late for work, and I'd prefer not to press my luck. Thanks.
When the vet tech brought in the dog, he took her past me, into the back. I never saw her again.
I'd been driving about 2 hours when J.D. said, "R.C., you're where do what?"
I came back with where I was and what I was doing. He told me I had to get empty, and call Roy on the phone when empty.
What did I do now? I haven't done anything today. I haven't done anything this week. Why am I in trouble? What a day, first that dog, and that will cost god only knows how much, and now I'm in trouble for something. Some days are just like that. So, I got empty, and called Roy.
Roy asked if I took a dog to the vet on the way to work. Yes, I did, why, did the dog die? Am I on the hook for thousands of dollars and the vet wants to talk to me right away? That dog didn't look like it was hurt that bad when I dropped it off. He kind of chuckled and said, no I wasn't in any trouble, and the owners of the dog were very grateful to have their dog back. They wanted to know if they owned me anything.
Oh..... I see. I was so relieved, I didn't know what to say. Roy told me that the dog was a patient at that vet's office, and her name was Ruby. The vet immediately recognised her and called the owner. The owner was frantic with grief, Ruby had slipped her collar that morning, and was off for a romp. The injury to the dog was limited to a big gash on the top of her head which took a few stitches, and the dog was already back home.
No, that lady doesn't owe me anything, I'm just glad the dog found her way back home. If it was my dog, I'd want somebody to do the same for me.
When I got close to the animal in the street, I could see it was a dog. The dog was rolling around on it's back, snarling and snapping at the air, barking, and carrying on intensely. It was pretty obvious that it had been hit by a car. East Washington is a really big street, it's divided with a median strip in the middle, and has 2 traffic lanes plus a parking lane on each side. Parked just before the dog rolling around was a City of Madison dump truck with 2 bozo's, smoking cigarettes, sitting in it. The dog was in the right hand lane. I stopped my pickup truck just about even with the city truck in the right hand lane to stop traffic, I didn't get run over while I checked out this injured dog. I could now see the dog's head was covered with blood.
I was just stepping out onto the street and the driver of the dump truck hailed me. He grinned and said that the cops were on their way to shoot the dog. I just glared back at him, and approached the dog. I was going to pick up that dog and take it to the vet. I didn't even think about it. What I did think about was getting bit in the face. I knew I was going to get bit in the face, there was no question in my mind, I was going to get bit in the face. I was just out of biting range of the dog when I hesitated. I turned my face to the side as far as it would go, looked away, bent over, slid my arms under the dog, and lifted her off the ground.
To my utter amazement, I did not get bit. The dog immediately stopped snarling and started to whimper. She was crying. I was still sure I was going to get bit. With my head turned as far away as possible from the creature in my arms, I carried her back to my pickup and put her on the passenger side of the seat. Up close, I could see that she had a big gash on the top of her head, but not too much else wrong with her. She'd probably been hit by that jerk in the city truck, the dump truck was high enough off the road to clip the dog's head without crushing the dog like a car or pickup would. Probably on purpose. And he was waiting for the cops. Taking an extra break, and smoking a few extra cigarettes. Life sure is cheap isn't it? I knew where I'd take her.
A couple of blocks from the cab company, is a vet's office. My own dog was one of Dr. Mike's patients, and I had an account there. I was glad to see that it was open early. I took one last look at the poor pup lying on my front seat, sobbing, and went into the vet's office. The vet tech asked if he could help me, and I said yes he could. I gave him my name, said I was a client, and that I had a really beautiful Irish Setter in my pickup truck that had been hit by a car. Put the dog on my tab, it has no collar. I'm late for work, I'll check back later in the day and see how the dog is doing, it's got a big gash on it's head.
Finally, since I was lucky, and did not get bit while I was picking the dog up off the street and putting it on my seat, and have not so far been bitten today, would it be possible for you to get the dog out of my pickup truck and bring it in? She's just lying there whimpering, but you do this for a living, and I already took my chance at getting bit. I'm late for work, and I'd prefer not to press my luck. Thanks.
When the vet tech brought in the dog, he took her past me, into the back. I never saw her again.
I'd been driving about 2 hours when J.D. said, "R.C., you're where do what?"
I came back with where I was and what I was doing. He told me I had to get empty, and call Roy on the phone when empty.
What did I do now? I haven't done anything today. I haven't done anything this week. Why am I in trouble? What a day, first that dog, and that will cost god only knows how much, and now I'm in trouble for something. Some days are just like that. So, I got empty, and called Roy.
Roy asked if I took a dog to the vet on the way to work. Yes, I did, why, did the dog die? Am I on the hook for thousands of dollars and the vet wants to talk to me right away? That dog didn't look like it was hurt that bad when I dropped it off. He kind of chuckled and said, no I wasn't in any trouble, and the owners of the dog were very grateful to have their dog back. They wanted to know if they owned me anything.
Oh..... I see. I was so relieved, I didn't know what to say. Roy told me that the dog was a patient at that vet's office, and her name was Ruby. The vet immediately recognised her and called the owner. The owner was frantic with grief, Ruby had slipped her collar that morning, and was off for a romp. The injury to the dog was limited to a big gash on the top of her head which took a few stitches, and the dog was already back home.
No, that lady doesn't owe me anything, I'm just glad the dog found her way back home. If it was my dog, I'd want somebody to do the same for me.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Bar time, it's -20 on a Saturday night
When it's -20 on a Saturday night, it's going to be busy, non stop. It was close to the end of this shift, and I'd been watching this poor Mexican guy standing in front of Stop and Shop, freezing for over an hour. He was a regular, I knew where he went, he lived in a cheap apartment building down on Ann st. I looked at him, and couldn't let him freeze anymore, so I pulled over and let him in.
Now, what I wanted to do was fill the rest of the seats with short rides. A lot of short rides, real fast, is the goal. I still had 2 seats open when this guy and this woman jump in the cab in the 600 block of University. They want to go to the satelight dish area, and claim they will give me a big tip. People who claim they will give a big tip usually don't tip at all, but it the was the right kind of destination to fit with the rest of what I had. I would have had to kick them out of the cab to get rid of them anyway. I was stopped at a light, and they like many people think that if a cab is stopped at a light and you run up to it and jump in, the driver has to take you. Well, he doesn't, but it's not always easy to kick them out. The guy sits in the front, the woman sits in the back.
When we get to the satelight dish, about 10 minutes later, only the Mexican guy is left with the guy and the woman in the cab. I turn to the guy and tell him how much, and it isn't much, less than 5 bucks, but he says he's broke and points to the woman in the back seat. She's got vomit bubbling over her lower lip, and it's dribbling down the front of her. She didn't get a lot on the back seat, but any is a nasty mess that I have to clean up before I can take more passengers. Thank god she didn't get any on another passenger. She has her wallet full of id open, and she's holding it out to me as if I'm a doorman at a bar. She has no money. He has no money. She's just puked in my cab.
The ID I'm looking at is a Michigan drivers license, and the address is something like 6,000 Miles st., Detroit, Michigan. The ID is in her wallet, with all her real ID, and credit cards, and who knows what else, and I'm holding it in my hands.
"Where's Livernois?", I ask.
She looks puzzled, puzzled even for a drunk, and slurs back, "It's in Illinois."
"Where's Van Dyke?", I ask. No answer.
"Where's the corner of John R. and Brush?", I demand. No answer.
"Where's Telegraph?", I demand. Again no answer.
"Lady, all the places I just mentioned are main drags in Detroit. This is a Detroit drivers license. Not only are you white, you don't know where any of the main drags in Detroit are. You're not from Detroit, this is a phony ID, you've puked in my cab, and you don't have any money. The fee for puking in my cab and the ride, is 30 bucks. I will take you to a money machine to get cash. If you don't like that idea, I'll call the cops and between the phony id, stiffing me for the ride, and being drunk enough to puke all over yourself, the 2 of you will probably spend the night in jail. Now which one of you is going to go to a cash machine and get some money, of do I call the cops?"
Both of them start telling me that their fathers are lawyers and they're going to get me fired for this. Ok, I say as I take the mike in hand, you have 15 seconds to make up your mind, one, two, three, four........ And the guy stops me and say's he'll go to a money machine and pay me. He says to let her off here. Ok, deal, I say, and she gets out of the cab. I can just imagine being the roomate who was awakened out of a sound sleep, and opened the door to see her standing there with puke all down the front of her. Nice.
As we drive to Ann st., where the silent Mexican guy lives, I'm telling the guy sitting next to me in the front seat that if he jumps out at a stop sign, the other cab companies in town will be notified what he looks like and he will not be given a ride by anybody. After all we don't give rides to people with no money. He doesn't have a coat on, only a sport jacket. I point out to him that he's not dressed for being out in the cold, and that no matter how far he has to walk, it's 20 below, and he has no hat no gloves and no coat.
The Mexican guy got out at his destination and paid me. He's actually a pretty good tipper too. Now we go looking for a money machine. I go for the money machine over by Park and Hughes. As we drive down Badger rd., en route to it, I tell the guy, "This is a bad neighborhood. It's a long walk back down town. You're not dressed for it. Run and no other cab company will give you a ride tonight. When you get out to step up to that money machine, do not run away. Are we clear on all this? You will need at least 35 bucks, 30 was the fee for the ride and cleaning up the cab, the trip to a cash machine is another 5."
He said, ok. We got to the money machine, he got out, got a couple of twenties, and got back in the cab. As we started driving back up Park st., I expected him to tell me to take him back to her house. He handed me the twenties.
"Keep the change", he said, and asked me to take him to an address near St. Mary's hospital.
"Emerald st?", I asked.
"Yeah, just I want to go home. I don't even know what her name is. I was going to fuck that."
After I let him out on Emerald st., I called it a night. It was late, and I had puke to clean up.
Now, what I wanted to do was fill the rest of the seats with short rides. A lot of short rides, real fast, is the goal. I still had 2 seats open when this guy and this woman jump in the cab in the 600 block of University. They want to go to the satelight dish area, and claim they will give me a big tip. People who claim they will give a big tip usually don't tip at all, but it the was the right kind of destination to fit with the rest of what I had. I would have had to kick them out of the cab to get rid of them anyway. I was stopped at a light, and they like many people think that if a cab is stopped at a light and you run up to it and jump in, the driver has to take you. Well, he doesn't, but it's not always easy to kick them out. The guy sits in the front, the woman sits in the back.
When we get to the satelight dish, about 10 minutes later, only the Mexican guy is left with the guy and the woman in the cab. I turn to the guy and tell him how much, and it isn't much, less than 5 bucks, but he says he's broke and points to the woman in the back seat. She's got vomit bubbling over her lower lip, and it's dribbling down the front of her. She didn't get a lot on the back seat, but any is a nasty mess that I have to clean up before I can take more passengers. Thank god she didn't get any on another passenger. She has her wallet full of id open, and she's holding it out to me as if I'm a doorman at a bar. She has no money. He has no money. She's just puked in my cab.
The ID I'm looking at is a Michigan drivers license, and the address is something like 6,000 Miles st., Detroit, Michigan. The ID is in her wallet, with all her real ID, and credit cards, and who knows what else, and I'm holding it in my hands.
"Where's Livernois?", I ask.
She looks puzzled, puzzled even for a drunk, and slurs back, "It's in Illinois."
"Where's Van Dyke?", I ask. No answer.
"Where's the corner of John R. and Brush?", I demand. No answer.
"Where's Telegraph?", I demand. Again no answer.
"Lady, all the places I just mentioned are main drags in Detroit. This is a Detroit drivers license. Not only are you white, you don't know where any of the main drags in Detroit are. You're not from Detroit, this is a phony ID, you've puked in my cab, and you don't have any money. The fee for puking in my cab and the ride, is 30 bucks. I will take you to a money machine to get cash. If you don't like that idea, I'll call the cops and between the phony id, stiffing me for the ride, and being drunk enough to puke all over yourself, the 2 of you will probably spend the night in jail. Now which one of you is going to go to a cash machine and get some money, of do I call the cops?"
Both of them start telling me that their fathers are lawyers and they're going to get me fired for this. Ok, I say as I take the mike in hand, you have 15 seconds to make up your mind, one, two, three, four........ And the guy stops me and say's he'll go to a money machine and pay me. He says to let her off here. Ok, deal, I say, and she gets out of the cab. I can just imagine being the roomate who was awakened out of a sound sleep, and opened the door to see her standing there with puke all down the front of her. Nice.
As we drive to Ann st., where the silent Mexican guy lives, I'm telling the guy sitting next to me in the front seat that if he jumps out at a stop sign, the other cab companies in town will be notified what he looks like and he will not be given a ride by anybody. After all we don't give rides to people with no money. He doesn't have a coat on, only a sport jacket. I point out to him that he's not dressed for being out in the cold, and that no matter how far he has to walk, it's 20 below, and he has no hat no gloves and no coat.
The Mexican guy got out at his destination and paid me. He's actually a pretty good tipper too. Now we go looking for a money machine. I go for the money machine over by Park and Hughes. As we drive down Badger rd., en route to it, I tell the guy, "This is a bad neighborhood. It's a long walk back down town. You're not dressed for it. Run and no other cab company will give you a ride tonight. When you get out to step up to that money machine, do not run away. Are we clear on all this? You will need at least 35 bucks, 30 was the fee for the ride and cleaning up the cab, the trip to a cash machine is another 5."
He said, ok. We got to the money machine, he got out, got a couple of twenties, and got back in the cab. As we started driving back up Park st., I expected him to tell me to take him back to her house. He handed me the twenties.
"Keep the change", he said, and asked me to take him to an address near St. Mary's hospital.
"Emerald st?", I asked.
"Yeah, just I want to go home. I don't even know what her name is. I was going to fuck that."
After I let him out on Emerald st., I called it a night. It was late, and I had puke to clean up.
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