NIGHT CABBIE 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 ...   More

NIGHT CABBIE Readers, meet your new Night Cabbie! We'll let him introduce himself: I'm young, smart and sexy. While I get a little shaky outside of city limits, I know Portland really well. I know the fastest way ...   More

NIGHT CABBIE People often hesitate to open the door when you have a trainee on board; you must explain the presence of another person. Passenger reactions are as varied as the trainees. Sometimes they just ignore ...   More

NIGHT CABBIE "How did you get this gig, anyway?" My passenger is not referring to my being a taxi driver. I once wrote about her, and when she saw me again tonight, she said, "You are the Night Cabbie! You know, I ...   More

NIGHT CABBIE Undoubtedly there are many unsung, Uncapitalized Cabbies out tonight, who will later write about their experiences—on their blogs, intended for all eyes, or in tattered composition books pulled ...   More

NIGHT CABBIE "When are you guys going to start driving hybrids?" I hear this several times a week. Dozens, if you include every permutation of what is essentially the same question: "Why are cabs so big/gas guzzl ...   More

NIGHT CABBIE My passenger was your average blue-collar Joe, but more interested in talking than chatting. "Well, yeah, but I'm not complaining. Gas should be $5 a gallon." He thinks I'm kidding. He thinks I'm i ...   More

NIGHT CABBIE I was delivering a box of blood to Kaiser Sunnyside. There was a guy near the front doors wearing scrubs, attached to an IV on a rolling stand, smoking a cigarette. An incongruous-looking figure, this ...   More

NIGHT CABBIE I can't begin to count the number of times I've thought this. Hello?! There's someone else in the car with you! We're so close to you that we can hear not just the little sighs and groans, but the rus ...   More

NIGHT CABBIE I'd been on autopilot for days. "He got in and said where to go. We went, discussing inoffensive topics/in silence. I dropped him off. He tipped me reasonably, and wished me good-night." That's far mo ...   More