NIGHT CABBIE "Do you know who Richard Alpert is?" The name sounds familiar, wait, wasn't he—"He's better known as Ram Dass." "Oh yeah, I've read some of his writing about the whole Timothy Leary crew." This ...   More

NIGHT CABBIE She's on the verge of tears as she asks if I can get her to 122nd and Glisan for under $15. I say that if I can't, I'll stop the meter. She tells me her teenage kids stole money from her and are now o ...   More

NIGHT CABBIE Up until now, seeing someone's cock in my cab has not been a good thing. Like the guy who once got in, told me where he wanted to go, and thought he'd just casually rub one out on the way. "Hey, any b ...   More

NIGHT CABBIE I probably give free or discounted rides as often as I engage in annoyed bitchery, believe it or not. This girl is huddled at the bus stop at 39th and Division, long after the last bus has come and go ...   More

NIGHT CABBIE "Blood, it's all there is/ in times of trial and loneliness." So goes a favorite song of mine, and it pops into my head as I stand in St. Vincent Hospital, holding a box of blood from the Red Cross th ...   More

NIGHT CABBIE I'm not really a Mötley Crüe fan, although I will concede that The Dirt, a book written about them, is scabrously funny. But now I'm surrounded by many many many Mötley Crüe fans. ...   More

NIGHT CABBIE 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 m ...   More

NIGHT CABBIE She drank the Kool-Aid. There has been much discussion of Hurricane Katrina lately, but this passenger has a more informed perspective than most. She works for the Department of Fish and Wildlife and ...   More

NIGHT CABBIE "I don't think your halo will fit in the cab." The woman approaching the car is wearing a furry halo atop her neon-pink wig, which practically glows in the twilight. Lack of headroom mandates its temp ...   More

NIGHT CABBIE Ask a cab driver to wait for you with the meter running when it's busy, and they'll get antsy. You make more money rolling than you can on the clock. But when it's slow, that's another matter entirely ...   More