May 14th, 2008
As I pull into the back parking lot of Spot 79 on Southeast Foster Road...13 comments
May 7th, 2008
I’ve had this stooped old alcoholic once before.6 comments
April 30th, 2008
When I call out to the Emanuel E.R.’s waiting room for my fare...13 comments
April 16th, 2008
“Vote Ron Paul? Who’s that, Sean Paul’s cousin?”15 comments
April 9th, 2008
The young woman leans forward...7 comments
April 2nd, 2008
I ask the two guys if there's going to be a problem with the payment... | [CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK] 20 comments
March 26th, 2008
For the first time ever, I flip the panic switch. 11 comments
March 19th, 2008
It’s raining so hard the water kicked up by my tires makes a slapping sound...5 comments
March 12th, 2008
I pick up the two teenagers in inner Southeast12 comments
March 5th, 2008
I’m thankful when I turn on the ignition that I’ve been listening to blues tonight6 comments
[April 23rd, 2008]
“No, really, I believe you,” I tell the old man.
We’re parked in front of his home. He occupied the ride here with a hostile soliloquy about what a huge asshole he is, how he’s been barred from dozens of bars, and that he’s an asshole because he drinks, and he drinks because he wants to forget all the people he killed in Korea. Then came a series of proclamations about his toughness, the number of medals he’d won, the laziness of my generation, etc.
He’s just paid me and said that I don’t believe him, and I’ve told him that in fact I do. He seems to be having trouble processing that information, so I say, “You must’ve been at Chosin, right?”
Speaking the name of a battle has a visible impact, and he begins to start a number of stories, but is unable to finish any of them before jumping on to the next. He’ll start to talk about Marine legend Chesty Puller, or the time he gave all of his men BARs, or about the Australians, and then he’ll trail off.
He goes on for 20 minutes. I’m not worried about the orders sitting on the board. I can only think about how much it must’ve fucked with his head to kill that many people. And to kill them not because he had any natural inclination to kill, but because he was a poor Indian orphan, and the Marines seemed like a good deal.
I stifle an urge to scream as I drive away.
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Some people write columns and some people read columns they DON'T like every single fucking week and comment negatively every single fucking week. Get a life Neck Ed. You're a fucking bore.
I read this column almost every week and I've rarely enjoyed it as much as I used to enjoy the previous NC. As a result, I have made a few negative comments--deserved, in my moderately humble opinion.
But, I think this week's column is very good and I liked last week's too. So, NYAH NYAH NYAH, Envy Us. By the way, we may envy NC, but do you really think we envy YOU?
Until the Internet Thought Police intervene, I will continue to read NC. Because I enjoy it!
Oh, ... and did you say "Envy Us" or "Envy Peen-Us"?
I thought this week's column was magnificent, a real three-masted square-rigger with brass cannons inside a very small bottle. Thank Goddess, there will always be critics; fleas tell a dog where to lick and critics keep writers on their toes.
fleas tell a dog where to lick and critics keep writers on their toes.>>
They might if they were capable of it. I think you learned the word "editor" one day and decided to use it ad nauseum.
FWIW, I don't have any problem with anyone reading the column every week, positive comments or not. Whether they believe it or not, it's really flattering, and something that I take as a sign of them being invested in the world of the column.
I think Neck Ed is pretty funny, and skipper seems reasonable and honest. I don't have a problem with either of them.
I read the column because I like the concept, but the execution leaves a little to be desired these days. He killed people because he was a poor Indian orphan? Really?
Dude, get another set of eyes to look at these before the pub date and if you already have an editor get a different one because they are doing you and your column a disservice. Nothing personal, I don't know you at all.
He killed people because he was a poor Indian orphan? Really?>>
Oh puh-leeze. Ever hear of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? My mom, who lived through it, thinks they were justified. I don't. But lots of people killed lots of people in WWII. Not only was it okay, it was pretty PC..,.THEN. Kindo like how now it's okay to kill Muslims.
If you engrave the Gettysburg Address on a cherry pit, NC3, someone will say, "Hey, I can't read this fucken thing."
Keep hitting the keys and streets.
Take comfort in the Spanish proverb about being patient with the needy reading public: "Basta ya, pinche buey, mocos secos y vete a la chingada y buen provecho."
I will admit that I was in a bad mood when I wrote the comment above. Usually the negative comments make me laugh and I admire Night Cabbie 3 for dealing with the negative, positively.
I apologize for my outburst.
This vignette puts me there in the cab with him. I've had random moments like this one myself, and tried to write them.
God, if anyone asks why I love Portlandians ... I, too, apologize for my outburst. You've got a full cab, NC3. Some of us are works-in-progress, but we're big tippers.
Portlanders, not Portlandians.
I stifle the urge to yawn as I navigate away from this column.