vague

All three of them crammed into the back seat. I woulda' made some room up front but I really didn't wanna. They argued back there the whole 15 minutes about different stupid shit so I just put them out of my mind until the transaction. At least they were semi quiet.

The next lady spoke only Spanish and the toddler she had with her was wicked loud and bouncin' all over the cab. He was too wound up, it was impossible to let my mind drift. I think she was just babysitting him and not the mother. Sister maybe.
Took a dude to Best Buy who was going there for a job interview. I wonder how a job like that would be. I mean selling TV's and shtuff.
Took a dude out to Westwood. He seemed a little off, I dunno. The conversation had no flow to it. It was as if he didn't know how and just when to make a transition to another subject. That's the best way I can explain it.
Later I drove a young lady to a house and the address seemed very familiar. It occurred to me that I used to pick up a 5th grade girl there along with a bunch of other kids when I used to drive a nightmare school van for the company. I remembered her name and I asked "Are you Brenna??" She said she was her sister and I recalled that there were 3 little sisters.
They grow up too damn fast. I think their father used to drive a cab.

postscript

Another airport pickup, likely the ten thousandth. Each one different. Like snowflakes.

Another engineer from India because we can't produce enough talented people.
Another ride to Boston: two people who probably studied in High School and ended up with good jobs and lives with houses and dogs and kids.
Another, a young lady, went to the Hilton. No tip. Go ahead to your fancy hotel and good luck with everything. Beatch. Sorry.
Later on this shady character gets in all drunk and drugged out. Kept on saying he wanted to go to a strip club but I told him by the time we get there they'll be closing down man. He has me pull over at some weird house, pays me and asks me to wait. I waited long enough for him to be out of the line of sight and cruised on outta there. I just had a bad feeling. Funny thing though. Best tip-o-the-night.
That was all Thursday night. Friday I dispatched. It was busy a lot of the time but I just kept my cool while pissing off half of the customers and all of the drivers.
You know my name look up the number.

appendix

Have you ever looked deep, deep into the mirror through your self and into your soul? Me neither.

Picked up the gracious Mrs. F. at the airport. She's a little kookie. Daft. Loopy. Doesn't make her a bad person but when she goes to D.C. to visit her kids and grand kids they send her back almost immediately. She can't help it, she doesn't know what to do since the good Doctor F. passed and so her mind races around looking for a place to land.

monochrome

I've had the worst back pain in my life for the last 3 days. I know about back pain but its never been enough to complain much about compared to what some people describe. Its radiating from one spot in my lower back. I dunno what caused it but I suspect its part of getting older. It feels on the mend but I have a sort of twinge in my neck now as well.

I had a fare tonight, this dude told me he was in charge of real estate for the federal government. Can he possibly telling me the truth on that? He seemed like some kind of agent. It felt like he knew things, had information that no one else had. Oh well.
In other news:

• The Red Sox lost in 14 innings falling 2 and a half games behind the Rays.
• Tom Brady is out for the season.
• The Republicans chose a pig with lipstick for their Vice Presidential candidate.
• I have to pee.

curia

I dispatched for a few hours this afternoon and then went on the road. I haven't felt good lately. Wicked bad allergies. A little depression creeping in but I fight that best I can. I ask myself who is in charge. Identify negativity and then don't feed it. Starve it to death by giving it no thought. Sometimes it works.
Somebody at work gave me some allergy medicine but didn't tell me it was the type that caused drowsiness and sometime around nine I started to feel it. It got worse and worserer and finally I had to pull over into a church parking lot and take a nap. It was only for about 45 minutes but man it was a really good deep sleep. By then it was almost midnight and I asked dispatcher Dave if I could rap it up for the evening and he obliged.
I only did 5 fares but 3 of them were long distance. Two Bostons and a Natick. One woman was from Phoenix but grew up in Chicago and I told her those are two of my favorite cities. Then there were 3 younger people from Germany going to the Hampton Inn. I like telling Germans that I'm mostly German myself and they always ask if I can speak the language. Wish I could.
Later a couple from Iceland heading to Boston. I never met so many damn Icelanders until this Summer. Its very strange. Oh well, who cares.

emotion

He was one of them you wonder what's keeping him alive. Nice enough old dude lit up a smoke and told of the massive heart attack he'd recently experienced. They told him he won't survive another one so we stopped to pick up some beer on the way home. No sense quiting now. What's he gonna gain maybe an extra month? A month or two of climbing the walls with no cigarettes and no beer? Some folks have a hard life. He's not much older than me.

bored