The Hack Diaries

So this weekend I go Travis Bickle and start driving a Quincy Cab.
Melly's got a temp job and between the two of us we make enough to be really worried about bills and food and other stuff we're used to like HBO and eating. This isn't the same as the weekend flea markets or her selling aromatherapy necklaces.
This is handling cash and vouchers for transportation. I'm looking at it as an adventure and trying not to worry about potential dangers. Those can be avoided. Old people take cabs. Handicapped people take cabs. People without cars but with tons of groceries take cabs. Those I can seek out. Play to the strengths. People tend to like me. Old people especially. I'm likable. The ones who don't like me tend to telegraphy that quickly and I keep my mouth shut. I interviewed with Wayne, the top honcho at yellow cab in Quincy and he filled out the forms for me and took my photo. I took the paperwork he handed me and brought it to the Quincy Police Department. Once I was sure they'd forgotten me or my application had been lost I called the police station and they told me it was all set. Forty five dollars and a thumb print and I walked out with my hackney license, good for two years in the city of Quincy. The one regulation they called my attention to was I was required to wear a collared shirt when driving the cab.
"Why?" I asked. "I'll do it, but why?"
"I'm not sure," the lady behind the bulletproof glass at the police station told me. "I guess because you'll be driving tourists and they want you to make a good impression representing the city."
I saluted and tried not to make it sarcastic and left. Ready to worry about my new adventure.
So, short of developing an unhealthy fixation on teenaged Jodie Foster, I’m set for my first shift as a cab driver. I’ve filled my Jack Bauer messenger back with a book, a box of Kleenex, Special K cereal bars, a GPS, my iPOD with the book wav I’ve been trying to get to the past few weeks and a notebook to further record adventures to pass on to you, the reader, here.
I took a long lunch hour from the day job to go to the cab garage to have a quick orientation of how things work. This was a nice addition to the Xeroxed manual I’d read the night before After giving me the once-over of operating the meter, the radio and the clipboard log, my trainer, Mick, told me to just have a ten, three fives, fifteen ones and a pocket full of change on me as a bank to make change for fares. He also told me, should I have a handicapped or blind fare, to call their attention that I was there and let them take the lead on how much help they would require. This seems like a good tip, not only because otherwise would be an insult to the fare, but would also make a good impression on those on the sidewalk observing who may or may not decide from their observations whether they’d call Yellow Cab should they need one available. I took a black Sharpie to a bunch of comedian business cards and crossed out everything but my name, my cell phone and my email address.I am paying to lease the cab and pay for mileage, everything above that is mine. I have my fingers crossed and am hoping the first few days, although I’m told they will be rough in getting into the swing,will prove fruitful enough to continue doing this. I also am hoping to score enough to get Robbie some back to school clothes and at least one Chinese takeout dinner for my wife an I based on this weekend’s take-home. And at least one decent story to pass on here. Wish me luck on both counts.
And should you need a cab. I'm around.

Coming soon...The Hack Diaries

Stuff I learned from Al Pacino

If you're tangled up, just tango on. - Scent of a Woman
When the shit hits the fan, some guys run and some guys stay. – Scent of a Woman
If you love a man's garden, you gotta love the man! - Serpico
You find out life's this game of inches, so is football. Because in either game - life or football - the margin for error is so small. I mean, one half a step too late or too early and you don't quite make it. – Any Given Sunday
Guilt is like a bag of fuckin' bricks. All ya gotta do is set it down– Devil’s Advocate
All I have in this world is my balls and my word and I don't break them for no one. - Scarface
I gotta hold on to my angst. I preserve it because I need it. It keeps me sharp, on the edge, where I gotta be. – Heat
I subscribe to the law of contrary public opinion... If everyone thinks one thing, then I say, bet the other way... Glengarry Glenn Ross
A person has an opinion. It's only an opinion. It's never a question of right or wrong. – Looking for Richard
Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgment. - Godfather III
Wyoming ain’t a country. – Dog Day Afternoon.