Taxi Potpourri

 Mem Shannon---"A Cab Driver's Blues"

Mem Shannon was a cab driver in New Orleans, who also played the guitar, and back in 1995, he put out a record/CD.   It is great.  Interspersed between the songs are conversations Shannon recorded of passengers in his cab.  Anyone who has driven cab can identify with what is going on in his cab.  Track 9, "The Miserable Bastard," is my favorite, Shannon recording this asshole of a lawyer in the backseat.  God! the crap people say to cabbies.  It is ridiculous!  Gert Town/Rykodisc Records.  Every cabbie should listen to this even if you are not a fan of the blues. 

"I'm a taxicab driver and I have problems...." he sings.  "There has to be a better way, if my luck ever changes I'm gonna quit this cab business some day."   "Boy! Boy! Boy! what a life!"

He is now out of the cab and touring and making records.  Good for him.  I just heard the conversation again with that lawyer.  Painful!  Yeah, he's a complete bastard.  I've had too many like him in my cab, insulting, revolting people, oblivious to the crap spewing out of their mouths.  

Fucked Uber!

A cabbie friend sent me an U-Tube video about 7 cabbies who put their smart phones on a table and watched how they were being offered different rates for the same fares.  What was, and is happening, is that Uber is controlling the algorithms governing its app.  Uber is obviously discriminatory.  I noticed it when I worked the few Uber months I did.  Some of my friends are making great money driving TNC, others not.  "What is going on, they ask?"  As I will always say, Uber is immoral. 

Crazy Seattle Traffic

I don't miss it.  And to think I once averaged 5000 miles a month on those congested, hilly streets. KIRO News reports that Seattle has the second worst congestion and the third worst traffic among 49 measured major Metro areas.  Los Angeles ranks first.  About six months ago some fool Seattle Times columnist wrote that traffic hadn't reach pre-pandemic levels.  Of course I knew he wasn't driving in it for a living everyday.  Most of Seattle-generated opinion ain't worth shit!  And you can quote me.

Bullshit Bus Lane Violation Misreported 

Changing my car insurance here in NM, I was shocked to find a moving violation from April 11, 2022 listed on my driving record from Progressive, of course raising my rates up.  I could not figure it out until I called the reporting agency and discovered some fool in Seattle miscoded the violation, with it showing up as a moving traffic violation.  My WA State MVR is clear.   I called the City of Seattle to complain and got some idiot who knew nothing and who hung up on me.   Nothing new when it comes to incompetent Seattle.  Dysfunction City is what it is.  I will be getting it removed but it is taking some effort.  SCREW SEATTLE!

New York City Taxi In 1924 & 9th US Circuit Court Of Appeals Uber Decision & Poem: "The Taxis" By Louis MacNeice

NYC Taxi Fare War 1924

One hundred years ago, taxi fares dropped from 30 cents a mile to 20 cents a mile, encouraging a huge increase in ridership and traffic congestion.  Taxicab ridership in August 1924 was averaging 300,000 passengers daily in New York City.  NYC population that year was 10, 943,000.  Some cabbies were complaining that the new rates were too low.  

Here is a list of monthly average taxi expenses for the NYC cabbie in 1924:

Car payment                 $132.00

Garage rent                   $25.00

Insurance                      $30.00

Gas & Oil                     $50.00

Tires                              $35.00 

Repairs                         $15.00

Association Dues.        $5.00

Total                             $301.00

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Back in 1924, that was a lot of money.  Taxi overhead has always been high.  A rough estimate of my monthly taxi expenses, counting dispatch fees, insurance, gasoline was about $2000. per month.  That's why it always felt I was working myself to death.  Being a lease driver was a breeze.  Initially, way back in 1987, my entire weekend taxi lease was $100.00.  Even later at Yellow Cab, at first, I think the lease was $160.00. per weekend.  Later it was $200.00 per 48 hour weekend and still quite the bargain.  I normally had my lease and gasoline paid for by 7 AM Saturday, leaving the rest of the time to roll in the money. And gasoline was cheap, averaging 90 cents a gallon in 1987.  

Appeals Court Ruling 

Friday, a 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals panel, in a 2-1 decision, ruled that in the case of State of Washington liability laws, Uber owes "a duty of care" to its drivers.  This case involved the December 13th, 2020 murder of Uber driver Cherno Ceesay, stabbed to death in an apparent carjacking attempt by his Uber dispatched passengers.  This is a big deal.  If the ruling holds, big bad Uber will be liable for millions of dollars in this case and others.  I encourage everyone to search for articles concerning this decision. 

Taxi Poem by the Irish Poet Louis MacNeice 

MacNeice is a long time favorite and influence of mine.  He was born in Belfast in 1907.  Here is a strange, funny poem about taxis.  Please note: there are four stanzas with no double space in each stanza but my computer will not allow me to eliminate the double spacing hence the small line earmarking the next stanza.  Got that!?   Damn computer! and damn my lack of computer skills!

The Taxis

In the first taxi he was alone tra-la,

No extras on the clock. He tipped ninepence

But the cabby, while he thanked him, looked askance

As though someone had bummed a ride.

___

In the second taxi he was alone tra-la

But the clock showed sixpence extra; he tipped accordingly

and the cabby from his muffler said: 'Make sure

You have left nothing behind tra-la between you.

___

In the third taxi he was alone tra-la

But the tip-up seats were down and there was an extra 

Charge of one-and -sixpence and an odd

Scent that reminded him of a trip to Cannes.

___

As for the fourth taxi, he was alone

Tra-la when he hailed it but the cabby looked

Through him and said: 'I can't tra-la well take

So many people, not to speak of the dog.'

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Odd piece of poetry.  I can only wish that the invisible dog would have growled at the cabby.  The clock mentioned is the term for the taxi meter.  On a personal note, my ex-wife, back when she was 14, studied dance in Cannes with the famous and not always nice Maria Tallchief.