Happy Medium?
I've now had two cab rides in Portland, one from the airport and this morning to the airport.
Ride #1
Cab pulls up, trunk pops. Bag in, Josh in. Silence. Waiting game? Driving starts. Still no words. Ok, I'll bite. SE 36th. Silence.
Silence continues. Not a peep. No radio. Just the hum of the road as he barrels down the 205. I have no choice but to stare at the driver's greasy head and wonder when he last showered. Hard to say if he even speaks English, although he looks to be Eastern European.
Finally arrive home. This is a nice neighborhood, he says. And off he goes.
Ride #2
Five minutes early. Sure wasn't expecting that. Driver seems to be a slightly slimmed down version of John Candy from Stripes. The radio is loud, the windows are open, but he wishes to carry on a conversation over it all. I'm cold, tired, and my throat feels a bit hoarse, but I soldier on.
He regales me with the tale of his time in the military in Germany in the Reagan years. You one of them neo-liberals? he barks at me. Just wanting some peace (and a ride to the airport), not to mention that I'm not positive what a neo-liberal is, I decline.
He's driving about 25 miles an hour and insists on taking surface streets (39th to Sandy to 82). I wonder if I will ever arrive at the airport.
Ride #1
Cab pulls up, trunk pops. Bag in, Josh in. Silence. Waiting game? Driving starts. Still no words. Ok, I'll bite. SE 36th. Silence.
Silence continues. Not a peep. No radio. Just the hum of the road as he barrels down the 205. I have no choice but to stare at the driver's greasy head and wonder when he last showered. Hard to say if he even speaks English, although he looks to be Eastern European.
Finally arrive home. This is a nice neighborhood, he says. And off he goes.
Ride #2
Five minutes early. Sure wasn't expecting that. Driver seems to be a slightly slimmed down version of John Candy from Stripes. The radio is loud, the windows are open, but he wishes to carry on a conversation over it all. I'm cold, tired, and my throat feels a bit hoarse, but I soldier on.
He regales me with the tale of his time in the military in Germany in the Reagan years. You one of them neo-liberals? he barks at me. Just wanting some peace (and a ride to the airport), not to mention that I'm not positive what a neo-liberal is, I decline.
He's driving about 25 miles an hour and insists on taking surface streets (39th to Sandy to 82). I wonder if I will ever arrive at the airport.
posted by Josh at 8:17 AM
1 Comments:
classic tale. i took a cab @ 3:45 am recently. to keep from waking the family, i chose to head outside around 3:43 and wait for the cab. i watched him as he drove down my street (albeit a little south of me) looking for street numbers. he did this for about 5 minutes before realizing he should head north a little where I was standing waving my arms. he too had the windows open on a cold morning, but wasn't talkative. we did 95 on I84 though. kinda fun.
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