NIGHT CABBIE “Son of a bitch, you’re running up the meter!” The old man is drunk, and furious that I was unwilling to make an illegal turn through busy traffic. “Hey, I told you I’ll ...   More

NIGHT CABBIE “Hey bro, remember me? You wrote that story about me in the paper.” I turn around, and the figure pulls back its hood. He’s a year older and sporting tangled cornrows, but of course ...   More

NIGHT CABBIE “It’s the Californians, man, the Californians are the worst.” The man is in his early 30s and we have been talking about Portland as I drive him to his home off Rosa Parks Way. &ldqu ...   More

NIGHT CABBIE The middle-aged man I picked up at Vendetta is in a hyperactively verbose lather and likely on coke, though meth is a distinct possibility. He’s just finished regaling me with a barely intelligi ...   More

NIGHT CABBIE [CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK] When I step into the obese old woman's apartment in Milwaukie, the smell is overwhelming and the air stifling. She has me wheel her cart of groceries entirely into the apar ...   More

NIGHT CABBIE The obese old woman at Fred Meyer has a bad hip and a wheelchair, and needs to sit in the front seat. Which is fantastic, as it’s scorching hot and she doesn’t seem to have bathed in days. ...   More

NIGHT CABBIE “Yeah, I’m really hungry too, but I need to take a shower first and wash all of this blood off.” Occasionally, in severe cases, a firefighter or two will have to ride along in an amb ...   More

NIGHT CABBIE “So I’ve got these two women in the back of my cab who just refuse to get out, and one of them’s puked all over the door, and the cops are understandably busy. What do I do?” I ...   More

NIGHT CABBIE “My friend’s getting divorced, and he’s really drunk,” says the bartender as she leans through the passenger window. “Please don’t take advantage of him.” I g ...   More

NIGHT CABBIE There’s nothing like a good Friday night, and I’m referring to the money. While the money can be very nice, Fridays often devolve into a desperate attempt at triage involving far too many ...   More