August 27th, 2008
“Son of a bitch, you’re running up the meter!”27 comments
August 20th, 2008
"Hey bro, remember me? You wrote that story about me in the paper."3 comments
August 13th, 2008
“It’s the Californians, man, the Californians are the worst.”15 comments
August 6th, 2008
The middle-aged man I picked up at Vendetta is in a hyperactively verbose lather ...0 comments
July 23rd, 2008
When I step into the obese old woman's apartment5 comments
July 16th, 2008
The obese old woman at Fred Meyer has a bad hip and a wheelchair...8 comments
July 9th, 2008
“...I need to take a shower first and wash all of this blood off.”6 comments
July 2nd, 2008
“So I’ve got these two women in the back of my cab who just refuse to get out...”8 comments
June 25th, 2008
“My friend’s getting divorced, and he’s really drunk,” says the bartender...8 comments
June 18th, 2008
There’s nothing like a good Friday night, and I’m referring to the money.3 comments
[April 18th, 2007] I'm not a saint.
Driving a cab is my job. I do it to make money. I don't drive a cab because I always secretly wanted to be a social worker.
Your car broke down? Fine, pay me. Your kid got shot and you're on your way to the hospital? Fine, pay me. You're joining the Army tomorrow? Fine, your stupid ass can pay me.
It's not that I'm completely without empathy, but the bills, they gots to be paid.
The attitude is already ingrained, but it's my first night on the job and the drunk middle-aged woman next to me got in the car crying about how she can't stop drinking. I took her to her boyfriend's, and he wouldn't even open the door, just told her to go away. So now we're parked in front of her house, and she's sobbing.
I hold her hand and talk to her about my own experience as a recovering alcoholic. I ask her if she feels she can control her drinking. I ask her if she's happy. I ask her if she thinks this boyfriend is a helpful presence in her life. The answer she gives to all of these questions is "no."
I can't afford to spend the rest of my night counseling this woman. I suggest to her that she's probably best off going to sleep, and going to an AA meeting in the morning. Then I tell her that she needs to get out. I don't charge her.
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RECENT COMMENTS ON “I'm not a saint”
Former NC, your observations are INCORRECT! My comment after the new NC's first column is a criticism for him about raving about himself. If I attacked you personally its because your writing was al...
Wrong, Klo. I won't criticize the new NC's writing until the writing has time to establish itself as a new voice, but the former NC is not, and was not, the egomaniacal narcissicism addict you make h...
What's interesting to me is that for whatever reason, the cab-driving part of the (on-line) paper has become the "let's play literary critic" part of the (on-line) paper.
How come y...
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