Cabbie Interviews

This page is dedicated to the hard-working blue-collar men who risk their lives driving me from LAX to work each week. The men whom the hypocritical "Compassionate Conservatives" in power do nothing to help (Car accident? I hope you can pay cash at the ER). The men whom the Democrats don't give a shit about either.

Most cab drivers working in large US cities are immigrants. Some have been driving a cab longer than I've been alive. There's no more sure-fire way to become an American than by driving the freeways and overcrowded city streets day in and day out.

I find Afro American cabbies, surprisingly few in number, to be the most interesting. They generally accept America for what it is: a country teeming with savage, violent, hopelessly self-congratulating hypocrites. The way the majority of Afro Americans quietly go about their business is testament to the phrase "live and let live."

And I have yet to meet a Latino driver who doesn't have a picture of Jesus taped to the dash, presumably as protection from the unrelenting city streets.

Cabbies get a bad rap. While fares in California are exorbitant, cabbies are generally fair minded and courteous. Tales of cabbies who drive out of the way to maximize the fare are exaggerated. It's more likely that the customer is out to screw the cabbie, most of whom have no recourse when they're cheated. "I forgot my wallet"; "I only have a credit card"; "I only have a $100 bill"; "You took too long," etc..

If anything should strike you about these badly written summaries is that America fulfills its promise as the last melancholy bastion of opportunity on the planet. It's one thing to be surrounded by opportunity and another thing to actually take advantage of it. Some have done better than others; obviously, the men I interview (and they're all men) are still driving cabs. They have been an inspiration to me and have taught me what America means (or meant) to everyone around the world.

This is an archive of my informal interviews of cabbies in chronological order.

• The Missing Cabbie Interview
• Cabbie Interview 2006-09-04
• American Interview 2005-08-30
• tiki-view_blog_post.php?blogId=1&postId=126
• tiki-view_blog_post.php?blogId=1&postId=137
• tiki-view_blog_post.php?blogId=1&postId=156
• A brief evening with an Afro-American cabbie
• tiki-view_blog_post.php?blogId=1&postId=172
• tiki-view_blog_post.php?blogId=1&postId=178
• Drywaller interview
• tiki-view_blog_post.php?blogId=1&postId=199

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