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May 05, 2009
I know how to hail a cab, fools!
I'm becoming progressively more irritated with Chicago cab drivers. Maybe cabbies do this in other cities, I don't really know. However, here, I once heard there were too many licensed taxi cabs for the amount of demand (except for New Year's Eve and closing time in Wrigleyville), so taxis tend to jump at any chance they can get to pick up a passenger.
This has translated into one particularly annoying tendency: anytime I'm walking down the street, and I look around to see what's going on, some cabbie thinks I'm looking for a taxi and will start to blow his horn at me, as if to say, "I'm available!" Apart from the fact that if I wanted a taxi, I'd be, you know, hailing one, there are a dozen other taxis within my field of view. I can see you, idiots.
Lately, I've been dragging around a suitcase filled with a client's file, because it is too big to fit in any other bag. It looks like I'm going to the airport, which is like a jackpot for the cabbie. I now know what it feels like to be a pretty blonde, because every cab honks at me as I walk. And much like a pretty blonde would think, it is really f'ing annoying.
I guess this is like a taxi version of whoring yourself out. Taxis already have their version of the "red light district" in that any taxi available has a big light on top. Need the quick gratification of a taxi? Look for ones with the number lit, like in the picture.
But, like when times or slow for the red light workers, taxis sometimes have to turn to direct solicitation. The horn honk is the taxi version of the prostitute scene from Full Metal Jacket. The driver oughta just say, "Hey Joe, I take you wherever you want. Ten dollar. You want go Midway? I take you all the way!" That's what the horn honk says. It has to stop. It's unseemly. Show a little dignity, cab drivers.
[Side note: I'm not trying to ridicule cab drivers and their command of the English language or anything like that. I just happen to enjoy referencing Full Metal Jacket. I don't really know any other prostitution related quotes. I haven't even seen Pretty Woman. Anyway.]
entry no. 1367
Posted at May 5, 2009 11:31 PM