cabs. subways and cabs.

ok, so. my second favorite thing about new york is the people you encounter on the subway. but my most favorite thing has to do with cab drivers. it's the perfect inception of karma. no, really.

on one sunday morning a long, long time ago, i had my first new york city cab driver zen moment, and since then, i have believed...no, BELIEVED in the new york cab driver karma.

it was a sunday morning on the upper east side. perfect, in the way that you always want sunday mornings to be. especially in new york. and i needed a cab down to penn. but i hadn't even made my way down to the edge of the sidewalk when a cab, out of nowhere, screeched to a halt in front of me. the man inside was wildly enthusiastic. and french. his name, was michele.

we talked the entire way to penn. i believe i told him my entire life story, and he told me his. and when we finally pulled to a stop at thirty-fourth and seventh, we were hugging as if we had known each other forever. it was grand.

i will never forget it.

tonight, i endeavored to go to brooklyn to see an old friend and his new band play. it was in red hook, and all i had was an address. i finished work in midtown, ate some pizza(naturally) and took the 6 down to lower manhattan, where i thought would be an opportune place to hail a cab to brooklyn.

i got passed up by no fewer than three cab drivers, who pulled over, asked where i was going, and then said that they would not accept the fare. and then, finally, a cab pulled over, just as i was about to get on the subway and wing it in brooklyn. i walked up to the window, said 'i'm going to brooklyn.' and dude said 'lady, wherever you want to go, i will take you there, my boo.'

so i got in, and we embarked on the crazy escapade of trying to find this bar in red hook.

he was from africa, senegal to be specific, and he kept telling me that i was smart, for understanding the directions that we got from other cab drivers. he also kept telling me,
'this is very bad! where is this that you are going? i cannot leave you here!'

it's true. redhook is pretty shady. as my wonderful, amazing friend gerard put it, 'there's two things going on here. organized crime, and disorganized crime.'

but we found it, with a great deal of help from gypsy cab drivers, residents of cobble hill, etc...

and THEN! on the way home, i asked the doorman to call me a cab, and he was like 'there's one waiting, do you want it?" so i get in the gypsy, and the driver is like, were you in a yellow cab earlier, that was looking for directions? because i recognize you from the back seat.'

only in new york.