Charlie

I started out the shift with a waitress heading home after a tough day. She'd been ripped off on a fifty dollar check by some kids who left a gift card on the table and split but there was no value on the card. It gets busy and I guess its easy to lose track of everyone and they got away. Little bastids.
Then everything started fitting together perfectly with one fare going into the airport and one coming back and that's pissa because I get to charge both of them for the Ted Williams Tunnel toll but only pay it once. Well, that's not really a big deal but its always nice to get paid both ways. The folks going home were Irish Americans returning from a visit there. There were 5 of them all together and it ain't all that legal to take that many people because there aren't enough seat belts. But there's what's right and there's what's right and so when we passed by the policeman at the entrance to the HOV lane one of the kids had to duck down and they all made the poor girl cry by telling her the police were going to take her away! Uh oh here they come! Oh No!

Then I took a couple guys into Boston Garden to catch a Bruins game. They had a few brews on the way in and I said I'd take care of the empties. The B's beat up the Sens by the way 4-0.
So I gets back to Braintree and pulls up in front of the Plaza and I gets out to get rid of the beer cans and somehow, for some weird reason I throws my keys away with the trash.
Idiot.
At the same moment a gentleman comes up and wants a ride to Copley Place, so the two of us are picking through the garbage looking for the keys.
We found them and off we went and this is turning into a good money night.
This guy has lived in India, England, Africa, New York, Boston, Scotland and I forget where else. He imports fish, mostly from South America to Africa and is in town for the big Fish Convention. He talked about a great paying job he once had in banking and that one day he just up and quit on the spot to become a fisherman in the Shetland Islands in Scotland. It was a very inspiring story that made me think man I could do anything I want. Anything. Dammit why don't I? Because of fear? Why? WHY?!
Sorry.

I went back to the Plaza and picked up two nice young college girls. You know, nice.
They had purchased a puppy at the mall and on the ride home were thinking of possible names for him. They settled on Charlie because he looked like a Charlie. I said for them to be sure to pronounce it with a Boston accent because he's a Boston dog. Chahlie. Am I right? But, they were from somewhere else so the pooch will probably forever be Charrrrlie. Poor little guy.

I hope everyone is doing fine and winning all their private battles.
Buona notte.

Ancient hand grenades

Drove a dude from Braintree to his home in Hingham, he'd been golfing in Florida. He said the older ya get the longer Winter seems to feel and I had to agree. Must be great to be able to get away like that for a weekend. His only problem is that somehow he's on the 'no fly list' and there's absolutely no reason for it but his name is not uncommon so I guess its a mistake in identity of some sort. So its a big hassle every time and there's nothing he can do about it.
I drove a young lady to Randolph who was originally from a small town in Kansas and I said that's wicked cool and told her about the time I broke down there.
That was during one of the great road trips me and my friends took but that's a story for another time.
I did a few other fares and then ended up dispatching for the rest of the shift and the night went by pretty fast after that.

I'm still pretty much wide awake so I'm watching Ancient Discoveries on the History Channel. Here's a fun fact: The Chinese invented hand grenades thousands of years ago.

and now a cartoon

Retina

A lot of people shopped today because its supposed to snow tomorrow, so I had more grocery store pick-ups than normal. I usually jump out with just my tee shirt on because it'd take longer to put on the damn sweatshirt than to grab the groceries and get back in the warm cab and most of the time people are shocked at the sight of this man with only a tee shirt. Oh my, aren't you freezing?
No but your face is.
One person who didn't notice was a lady who is losing her eyesight. She can see well enough but its getting worse. Take care of your eyes she kept saying, take care of those eyes. I told her I brush them every night before bed.

Radio Check

Lemme see now,
I started off the day with Rita. I've told you about Lovely Rita.
Next, a dude going home from the Plaza and talking on his cell phone to somebody about tonight's poker game.
Then I picked up another one at SSP just going locally but i got stuck behind some old bag driving 10 miles per hour, big line of cars behind us all the way down Common Street.
So I finally get around her and then this schmuck stops right in front of me because he wants to take a left from the straight ahead lane but he's stuck and he can't get over and now I've got a green light and he's sitting there like a Stoughton bottle.
I can usually handle much worse social infractions but between this dope and the old bag only a minute before I started yelling and getting a little upset about it, but choosing my words carefully and not swearing. I told the lady I was sorry and she said it was okay she understood and hoped my day got better.
The next fare was a lady dressed all in Patriots stuff: jacket, gloves, hat everything. So, I asked her what she thought about the Pat's season and she said 19 and 1 was disappointing and lets face it the Jets played a good game. I decided not to correct her because what's the point.
Then Billy sent me out to Curry College for a young lady going to North Quincy T station and I told her to make sure she got home at a decent hour because its a school night.

Stopped for a slice at Town Pizza and the next one was a lady and her kid going to the airport. Their flight was at 6:30 and the dashboard clock is reading 6:05. I told her there's no possible way you're making this flight but she refused to believe me and off we went getting stuck at every possible light and hitting some traffic on the expressway because of a right lane breakdown at Neponset. We got to the terminal at exactly 6:31 and out of curiosity I called the airline to see if it was delayed but it was going right on schedule. No way they made it.
When I got back to town I picked up a couple more college kids going to Curry and then I sat at the X for over an hour.
I called Bill for a radio check, which is kind of a wise-ass way of saying 'dude where's the work?!'
I gassed up around 9:30 and offered to finish out Billy's dispatch shift for 20 bucks but he said what am i gonna do at home I might as well sit here.

There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you are meant to be (john lennon)

Random

Someone once said that random numbers are too important to be left up to chance.

I just re-watched the movie Grand Canyon, always a favorite. Probably seen it 5 or more times. The film somehow fit into a theme that's been running around my brain and sometimes that theme or whatever you wanna call it is more clear and concrete than it is right now. I can't really think because it's 3:00am Sunday and I feel weirdly awake but I know I'll be sleeping soon.
This theme has something to do with feeling alright about feeling bad, but that's not it exactly. There's more to it than that, and less. Maybe we'll come back to that thought.
I feel really fortunate to know all the people I know and I guess that'd probably include you, whoever you are reading this right now.
I'm sure everyone wonders what would've happened if things unfolded differently in their lives. I mean, what would it look like? A different job? Different car?
And you know, I feel some loss there about missed opportunities. Should have studied harder in school. Should have stood and fought instead of run away. Shouldn't have eaten that lead paint. If it were possible, yeah I would edit out and add a few things into this whole life thing. But, mostly I'd keep everything the same. I wouldn't want to have missed all the misfits and weirdos, jokers and geniuses I've met.
When it comes to my family I hit the lottery. Every single one of them from 7 to 78, is a gift that I'm grateful for beyond words.
And I'm really grateful for those moments when everything seems okay. Even perfect.

Rita

Rita is 87 years old, or so she thinks. Her mind left her quite some time ago so now she takes a cab to and from a very nice place where she and other like minded individuals get together and have the same conversation over and over. And over. Rita is always a little nervous because she doesn't remember anything. Poor thing asked me today 3 times if the cab was paid for. Of course it is all prearranged by her son so she has a place to go every other day or so to get out and socialize. All part of the big plan I suppose. Its a mad world.
Later I drove a family to the airport, headed to Florida and a cruise.
It took us a while to get everything into the trunk because there were the parents and 3 kids with a lot of stuff but we got it all in there. Its all geometry. Nice family, good tip.

I drove a New Yorker, a Met fan who hates the Yankees more than I do, to the Amtrak Station in Westwood. He did give me some crap about the Super Bowl, I guess we have that coming. I told him I'll see him and his stinkin' Mets in the World Series.

Or in Hell.

Never Enough

I had a fare yesterday, a young lady from New Jersey who had driven up here in early monday morning traffic for a job interview. As soon as she got in the cab to go to the airport it was obvious that she was more than a little upset about something so I said hey whats goin' on? you okay? She said it was one of the worst days of her life so i said come on, whats going on, talk to me baby.
Well, she'd been working in a coffee shop down there in Jersey even though she had a college degree and I said yeah i got one of those. I guess one of the regulars at the restaurant is the CEO at this company in Braintree but they have an office in NJ too, so this guy was impressed by her attitude and offered her a good job. All she had to do was come up here with him and interview with 7 other people. After about the 6th interview she was so tired and hungry that she broke down crying and she feels like she blew the deal. There were still a few tears now but she was angry and sad at the same time, swearing and saying how cruel the whole thing was and talking about getting seriously drunk as soon as possible. You have to admire that.
I think if the CEO likes you and drives you 4 hours to Boston you're probably in pretty good shape for the gig, right? She even said the lady she cried in front of didn't have much authority anyway so I'm thinking she's got the job, but I'll always wonder.
The one thing that will stick with me is a thing she said about going for happiness when it comes to her job and everything else. She was happy pouring coffee.
Sometimes someone comes along out of nowhere and starts talking and it sticks with me. It jogged a memory of a teacher I had once when he asked the class what we wanted for ourselves in the future and a lot of us said we just wanted to be happy. But no no that's not a good answer. Its not specific enough. Seems like its never enough.

Dammit

Someone posted this sign at work this morning. Lets leave it at that.