Tuesday, July 04, 2006

The 3rd of July



It was a hot, glorious day when I left the garage and drove over the 59th Street Bridge into Manhattan. The only problem with this Monday afternoon was that the city was virtually empty. The usual rush hour business was nonexistent, with most people either taking the day off of work or gone out of town. The whole rhythm of the night was affected and it was just a weird pace for the entire shift. I had little clusters of passengers and then would spend up to 30 minutes driving around empty looking for work. But with the holiday, those who were left in the city decided to go out and as the night wore on, it began to look more like a weekend night than a Monday.

Of course, the later it got, the drunker everyone became. Luckily, everyone, drunk or not, seemed to be in a good mood. Two girls got in the cab outside of an Irish bar on the upper east side wanting to go to Bowery Bar on Great Jones and Bowery. After gossiping for a few minutes about some friend of theirs who they suspect has an eating disorder, they noticed me. One of them leaned up to the partition and said, "Hey, is that place any good, Bowery Bar?"

I replied, "I'm not sure. I was there once or twice a few years ago, but I don't know what it's like now. What was wrong with the bar you just left?"

"It was full of ugly guys."

"Oh."

"Yeah, they should call it McUglies, not McFaddens."

Then they grilled me for a few minutes about what it's like to be "a female cab driver," and, when I gave them my boring, routine answers, they went back to trash talking about their anorexic friend.

I guess I didn't look skinny enough to hold their interest.

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Was looking for a new wallpaper and the bridge picture just became it.

Happy 4th of July!

trashicon said...

forever enjoying the read ... forgot it ws the 4th .. australia doesnt care much for other people holidays...

anyway seeing as im the 1st or 2nd commenter i might take this time to plug my blog /website for all those who care:

trashicon - for when it rain in melbourne.

people might like the photo gallery other wise just wise you lived here.

rajib said...

Given the fact that each post of urs attracts close to a hundred comments, I must consider myself unlucky to have narrowly missed being the first to scribble a comment for this post.

I have been reading ur blog since a long time and I must admit that each post is as engrossing the ones before.

I have recommended this blog to most of my friends.

Crabbie said...

The nights with weird rhythym can be so disconcerting... I always feel like I'm having a horrible night financially and then it'll end up being average or even better.

I think that every city in the U.S. with a population over 50,000 has at least one bar called "McFadden's," likely 2 or 3.

The Pat said...

Well, if you're working the 4th, hope you don't run into too much trouble. Although, of course, that would provide you with lots of stuff to write about...

Drunken Master said...

Wow, it seems kinda scary that the city could empty like that, but I think I know the real reason why: Everyone was up in the park waiting in line to get tickets for Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacourt Theater...

Anonymous said...

"I guess I didn't look skinny enough to hold their interest."

That's funny stuff. Thanks for a great blog.

Anonymous said...

you are not skinny, and not ugly...that's what it was :)

Dino said...

It was the same way at the restaurant where I work. The night started out super slow but picked up and I made more money than I did last weekend.

Anonymous said...

loved ur posts...hope to hop into ur cab one day too..:)

HARRY said...

Thought of you the other night. My brother and I were driving up the West side Highway to see the Yanks beat the Mets 16 to 7. We both were laughing our asses off when a cab came to the end of an entrance ramp, slams on his brakes and flies backwards the wrong way. Guess that some cabbies aren't the best drivers in the world. Be safe.

Anonymous said...

Too many ugly guys.. Bwa ha ha ha! Oh that is rich. Too many ugly guys...That`s NYC chick talk for "All the guys ignored us".

Anonymous said...

You are a fantastic writer!!! I am so disappointed when a blog is not posted. I wish you posted everday.

Happy Independence Day!

EverJack1 said...

Yep..... Hope you're having a happy and safe fourth, MP.

The Bowery Bar doesn't sound too safe to me, at least for a couple of women....... unless it's just a name for a trendy bar in Manhattan.

EverJack1

Anonymous said...

But you're just skinny enough to hold MY interest. Hubba Hubba!

Ed B. said...

Happy 4th MP! I got to spend most of mine camping. Hopefully you get the day off. :-D

C.T. Chua said...

I've never seen NYC so devoid of life before! Thanks for the beautiful view!

Sid said...

I have been reading your blog for a long time and only did I come to know that you were a "Female".
Pretty interesting according to me. I always felt that since you were a cab driver, you were a guy by default.
Has made re-reading your blogs very interesting.

Anonymous said...

Then they grilled me for a few minutes about what it's like to be "a female cab driver," and, when I gave them my boring, routine answers, they went back to trash talking about their anorexic friend.

Wow, bummer. And you gave your boring, routine answers, and that happened?

Jesus Christ.

Anonymous said...

This explains why my action at McFadden's has been so bad.

I'm ugly.

Hell, I knew I was short, near-sighted and a little overweight.

But ugly?

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Anonymous said...

This town.........is looking like a ghost town.

meesh said...

Nice to hear that some things never change. Be proud you weren't skinny enough to capture their attentions! :)

KB said...

I gotta ask some cabbie ettiquette? Is it better to be quiet in the back or make small talk? I always feel awkward and want to be respectful rather than annoying.

The Lone Beader® said...

Drunk girls are pretty funny, sometimes...

I thought of you recently, as well...One night, I was stuck in 2am club traffic in downtown Boston. I was trying to get the hell out of the city, and some cop had someone pulled over, AND there was an accident at the same intersection. It was awful. I wondered what you would do. So, I pulled out my 'crappy' cell phone camera and tried my hand at shooting some pics of the incidents as I rode by. Needless to say, the pics didn't come out as good as yours do, but it was entertaining at the time. LOL!!

January said...

Love your posts and your pictures.

Great blog!

Anonymous said...

It was the same way at the restaurant where I work. The night started out super slow in Caribbean but picked up and I made more money than I did last weekend.

Anonymous said...

Another blogger blogged about his unfortunate visit to McFadden's here. (I found a link to that on Gawker.)