Tonight I am in half zombie mode after getting less sleep than usual and then hanging out with my best friend, Cam. We went out to eat and I’ll cover that in my Fill Your Food Hole blog. I wanted to talk about the cab ride I had tonight and the awesome ass conversation that occurred. Normally when I ride a cab I’m already pissed because they say they showed up and picked someone up that wasn’t me or they are surly and not in the mood to converse with me. I actually almost missed this cab because it was sitting at the end of the block out of my sight. I ran to it and got inside. We talked about almost missing each other and took off.
Now, my cab ride is short. Less than ten minutes because of the time of day I take it. Me and the driver, named Tony from New Jersey, began talking. Let me say that it is always funny to me that people from the East coast always say where they are from as if it’s a part of their name. He asked if I was heading to work and I let him know that I was actually leaving work. Then we got on the topic of sleep and he talked about how when he was younger he used to party all the time and never slept. He talked about how it is good to sleep and how he thinks he lost his hair because of not taking care of himself. “Amongst other reasons” he said while laughing.
We started talking about stress as well as sleep and I mentioned that I don’t sleep all that much and that I try to live a stress free life. “The stuff I enjoy isn’t stressful, I enjoy it, and its cheap.” He replied “That is some good life advice. You look like a young guy and most young people spend their lives on their cell phones. They will get in the cab, tell me which airport, stick the phone in their ear, and next thing you know I tell them we have arrived and they say ‘Already?!’ because they haven’t finished their conversation.” Tony continued saying “You talked to me tonight and I like talking to people. Its one of the best parts of my job.”
We started discussing cell phones and how years from now we’re gonna find out how dangerous they really are. He thanked me after I tipped him (50% in case you’re wondering) and he thanked me and gave me his card.
The conversation I had with him had more meaning than some I have with people I call friends because their attention is spread between me and some faceless voice on the other end of the phone while we are hanging out. I know I bitch about it all the time, but seriously, people with cell phones who are always texting while hanging out with me need to cut it out. If you think we had a great time imagine how much better it would be if you paid attention and I wasn’t silently seething and cutting my conversation down by half because your phone kept vibrating.
I was the last of my friends to get a phone and one thing that used to drive me mad was when we went to the pub or a cafe for a drink and chat, everyone would put their phones on the table beside their drinks. It was just a passing fad, I think, everyone showing off their cool gadget, but it quickly became a major social faux pas to do this, thankfully. Nothing ruder in Ireland than to interrupt a pub conversation to take a call or worse, reply to a text, unless the person has flagged that they were expecting an important call/text. Ah well.
ReplyDeleteI love talking to taxi drivers, even after living here in Dublin fifteen years or so, I still get great tips for pubs/restaurants to go to and stories about the city that are so interesting. Are LA cabbies the same?
I think my good experiences with cabbies is about at 30%. Most times they dont want to talk. A few weeks ago I had one that had headphones on and was watching some news program on his tiny cell phone. I was like "Really?" His tip sucked.
ReplyDeleteI have had some really cool cabbies and when they ask where I am from and I say L.A they almost never believe me. "You dont seem like you're from L.A" they say. I have had a few from other countries that say they prefer the night shift because there is no traffic and you meet people who aren't in a rush.