Cabbies

This afternoon I was late for a meeting at work, so I took a cab instead of the subway. My cab driver was much more animated than the typical Philly cabbie. After exchanging the typical formalities, he asked if I'd rather go to 36th and Market in Brooklyn rather than Philadelphia promising me he'd make it a fun trip. I assured him that University City was my preferred destination. He then said, "you seem like a very nice and educated young lady, so I'd like your advice", then asked, "how do you know when a marriage is over?" Desperately trying to hold back laughter, I explained how I am not even close to the right person to talk to about that, being 23 and not married. He said, "well you've never had a long-term relationship?" I, not really wanting to talk about any ex-boyfriends with a random stranger, tried to politely get out of the conversation by explaining that I am young and inexperienced, which only prompted a lecture about the dangers of marriage, especially one which produces children, the importance of good communication with loved ones, etc. When I finally got out of the cab, I gave the guy $10 and shouted "Good luck with your divorce!"

I actually have a pretty ridiculous history with cab drivers. In Baltimore, I had a cab driver smoke a bowl while driving my friends and I back from the bars and another go the wrong way down an exit ramp from the highway laughing hysterically at the horror we were experiencing in the back seat. In Africa, I had to take a cab to work everyday; all of the cab drivers in the city knew me by name (not really so strange considering I was the only white person in the city) and would fight over who got to drive me to work. Everyday whomever was driving me would propose to me explaining how badly they wanted a white wife. I usually tried to think of a witty response to the constant marriage proposals; usually I said something along the lines of, well you're the 100th person to ask, and I don't think I am going to go through that many husbands. But a few times when I wasn't in such a good mood, I said, "Oh really, you want a white wife? Me too. Too bad that's not legal here." Worked like a charm, so there are probably some crazy rumors among the Ashanti cabbies about this lesbian white girl, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do, right?