Logo
Housing Connections
ISSUE #31.49 • NEWS • RIDE-ALONG
NIGHT CABBIE

A fare in McMinnville

Social bookmarking | Permalink
Email | Print | Rate It! | 0 comments
Recently in "NIGHT CABBIE"
BY NIGHT CABBIE | nightcabbie at wweek dot com

[October 12th, 2005] A fare in McMinnville?! I know we will tote someone out there if that's where they must go, but I didn't even know we'd accept a pickup there. I had taken a half hour off to run my rent check out to my landlord's house in Tualatin. I punched computer buttons in a desultory fashion, marking into that zone but not actually expecting an order. Now this.

It's complicated, a delivery pickup with assorted phone numbers, and the first one I call, for directions, is a wrong number. Not a good sign. I call dispatch; they find another wrong number. They say they'll figure it out. I wait. And wait. And wait long enough to have been up I-5 and back to Portland. But now it's sorted, and I head for 99W.

This is the farthest trip I've taken, I think, although Scappoose and Mount Angel ranked up there as well. I see Borders and Barnes & Nobles and Bed, Bath and Beyonds I've never seen before! I count three Targets. Little outposts of weirdness remain though, like a pharmacy that advertises diabetes supplies like they're beer or cigarettes.

Upon arriving, I am given a set of keys to take to someone in the Pearl District. Once there, the elevator won't go to their floor without a key, which means money. The fare is $65, but I can't break the $100 bill she hands me. Her husband only has hundreds as well, so she shrugs it off, "keep it." Why certainly, if you insist.












icon Story continues below

advertisement

advertisement

Rate This Story
Be the first to rate this story.

Comment on the "A fare in McMinnville" article



Recently in Willamette Week
July 24th 2008Lean, Mean Meat-Free Machine | Portlander Robert Cheeke is the face of vegan bodybuilding.
July 24th 2008The Sopranokovs | The Russian mob comes to town with a new scam—medical identity theft.
July 24th 2008Manhunter | Almost every state lets bounty hunters chase down its most wanted. Why doesn’t Oregon?
July 24th 2008Get Wet: WW’s Summer Guide 2008 | The rain is finally over. Now let’s get wet!
July 24th 2008New Kids In The Flock | Gresham’s twin teenage sensations go about their Father’s business. And it’s making them superstars.
July 24th 2008The Price is WHAT? | Second-guessing City Hall—it’s more fun than Monopoly!
July 24th 2008Welcome to Googleville | America’s newest information superhighway begins On Oregon’s Silicon Prairie.
July 24th 2008Fleeced | While students across Oregon celebrate graduation, many are facing a gnawing problem—they’re getting sheared by huge debt.
July 24th 2008A Bridge Over The River Why? | Local pols say global warming is a dire threat. But they want to spend $4.2 billion on a project that makes driving easier.