Sentence fragment for a band name!

Posted on April 2, 2008 by yellowandblackmail

I had more famous people in my cab tonight!

http://www.clapyourhandssayyeah.com/

I’ve never heard of this band (and I felt bad for telling them this), but I had two members of this band in my cab today… TWICE! They’ll be performing tomorrow at the Memorial Union at around 9pm and they said they’d put me on the guest list if I want to attend. I’ve heard that line before so I’ll show up prepared to pay. I decided to take tomorrow off because it was dead slow tonight and i don’t expect it to pick up until Thursday and Friday for the film festival. They were nice people, they seem older (maybe 35-40) and less douchey than people who get famous at an early age.

I checked the songs on their website and it’s a kookie sorta rock and not a pop-rock, so I expect to enjoy the show. I’m willing to give them my money because they were nice, decent tippers, and not full of themselves. They were even interested in what the BBC had to say in the News Hour on WORT about Zimbabwe!

Later I had an old man with open pants in my cab. He said his zipper was broken, and that he was sorry to offend. The least he could do was wear underwear, though… I gave him a ride anyway since he was a regular and obviously not trying to be solicitous. I trust my experience enough to know that he was just in too much pain and too old to get himself another pair of pants or remember other people could actually see his wiener (without wanting to). I never want to be in that state where I am oblivious to my effect on the people around me.

ps: I love how I’m never really resentful of going to work. I’ll say “aw!  I have to go to work,” but once I get there it’s not so bad at all. Once in awhile when the roads are a mess of snow or it’s Halloween night or something it’s hard to deal with, but it’s never a regular occurrence.

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A woman of contradiction

Posted on March 26, 2008 by yellowandblackmail

“Mary Jean McGrath was the eternal old lady, she’s the type you think will be around forever.” -Clay Espie, Union Cab Driver.

He’s right, she had her routines but they weren’t ridged, and she never looked or acted sick. She commented every time I drove her somewhere about my hair or how pretty I was. 80% of her rides were to or from church. She hated getting phone calls to let her know her cab was outside but she wouldn’t come out to the cab unless she got one,  or the driver came and knocked on her door (this pissed phone answers off to no end, she would always answer with “I’m on my way out the door, I have a taxi waiting for me!”). She was gentle, soft spoken, and I’ll lay out a few prejudices now that she contradicted.

Despite being about 90, she didn’t smell like old lady, or sickly.
Despite being religious, she tipped always 20%. She even wrote 20% in the charge line for the tip, instead of a flat dollar amount, which drove several drivers nuts since we have to scratch that out and calculate the actual amount and put that in there. Some drivers tried to explain that to her, but she didn’t change her habit.
Despite being religious, she didn’t try to convert drivers or ask them about their religious views.
Despite being rich, she tipped.
Despite being rich, and despite being religious, she was very liberal and in her youth was a women’s rights activist and artist.
Despite being rich, old, and religious, Mary Jean was a woman that I loved and admired.

I wouldn’t say I didn’t like those things about her, but didn’t mind so much that they came with the package. She was a strong supporter of local businesses and Cooperatives. Her walls were lined with the beautiful paintings she did herself and bought from others. She was NICE. She was the type of little old lady that I’d like to have been related to or have living next door while growing up.

She passed away two evenings ago, and I hadn’t given her a ride in probably 5-6 months, so I’m not sure how she was doing toward the end. I’d like to think she passed peacefully in her sleep, since last time I saw her she was in fine health, sharp as a tack, and old as dirt. She is the old lady I hope to someday become, only replace Church with some community function or weekly bridge gathering with my old lady friends.

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Diminishing Returns

Posted on March 18, 2008 by yellowandblackmail

I’ve been working more hours and picking up shifts in an effort to be prepared for having to shoulder full rent on april 15th while continuing the search for a roommate. I also need to get caught up on a couple of bills I let fall behind when I was gone in England. I find the more I work, the less I have the motivation to work. I slack off a little more, rationalizing that I deserve a little rest here and there. Working on commission, this is very bad. I also find I spend more tip money on lunch/dinner/snack/coffees, rationalizing that I’m still making more by picking up these shifts, and the rewards motivate me.

Regardless, it’s making my time worth less and that sucks. But I do like to reward myself, that’s for sure. I think tonight I might get donuts from the Greenbush Bakery or a nice sandwich from Mildred’s for dinner.

I picked up a shift last night, like a lot of people did. It was St Patrick’s Day and it was a total flop. Barely anyone went out to drink last night and the fact that we had so many cabs on the road made it ten times worse for everyone. A lot of people got to go home early but I got assigned a call going to a different city. The call ran about $50, I got a $10 tip, and it saved my night. However, this couple had sex in my taxi cab.

Kinda strange, seeing as the man was probably 50, and the woman around 45 and a knock out. It almost seemed like she was a divorced trophy wife looking for a good time. Towards the end of the ride she breathed heavily into my ear “You’re a good girl.” It was pretty off-the-wall.

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Bearly Music

Posted on March 14, 2008 by yellowandblackmail

I had this dude in my cab last night:
http://www.steveholy.com/

I guess he’s famous, he seemed disappointed I hadn’t heard of him but we attributed that to me not ever listening to country music. He tipped $15, was very nice, and talked about how nervous he was about his impending fatherhood. He even wrote on my credit card receipt that I was “Nice and fun!”, then signed it. He’s in town for a St Jude benefit concert for the local country station.

Our local volunteer radio station is great, WORT. I listen to a lot of BBC and Democracy Now, and I even leave it on during its Mexican programming, even though I find most Mexican Announcers very brash, fanfare-ish, and jarring. Yesterday there was a story about a beekeeper who was being terrorized and invaded by a bear. To drive off the bear, he blared techno music. It worked out well, keeping the bear away from his hives, until his generator used up all its stores of power. The bear came back and wrecked havoc.

This man sued the bear. And he won. Since the bear belongs to no one and is an endangered species the State pays for damages… and I guess the man goes back to blasting techno.

I think I heard this on BBC, but I thought it was a great add story amongst all the news on Obama/Clinton and Iran. The stories about lost bank account information in England was interesting, though.

I get most of my news this way and from people in my cab who tell me only half the story, or embellishments. It’s kinda fun, though, to hear something from one person, then ask the next about it and get a completely different story from them. Next time I get goofy news from passengers, I’ll remember to write down notes and pass them along here.

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Safe and sound.

Posted on December 23, 2007 by yellowandblackmail

I drove you home in a fucking ICE STORM. ICE RAINED DOWN UPON ME.

Fucking tip goddammit.

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