The wisdom of taxi drivers is well known; these days, we have Uber and Lyft and Zip Car and increasingly diverse options for getting around - the hip kids freakishly just hashtag their way around (i.e. #LydiasGradParty, and they find someone else headed that same way) - and so some of this perennial wisdom is being lost. You can have conversations with anyone, I suppose, but there was / is something classic about conversations with taxi drivers.
Recently, I had to take a cab, and I asked, as I usually do, how it was going. Some cabbies will respond, will tell you just how it's going - and then usually that leads to an actual conversation. I often get to find out how long they've been doing this job, where their original home was, what they like or don't like about it. When I'm a visitor, often I find out interesting facts about the city I'm in - I like when they play pro temp tour guide.
In this case, my cabbie began to talk about the America's Cup, whose finals are currently taking place in San Francisco, or perhaps by now they just ended. But they happened or are happening, and it's apparently a big deal. It's sailing - I thought it was sailing but had no details. This cabbie was willing to supply me with some.
The finals were 17 races, and you had to get 9 of them to win; the Americans did something last year - something they were not supposed to, some type or form of cheating, I gather, and they were penalized by being handicapped. They would have to win 11 of 17 races, and that was unlikely. The Americans were game, but it was unlikely they would win. They had heart, perhaps - they were hosting it, and they were going to try, even though they were cheaters.
The cabbie did not say it that way, of course. He was very difficult to identify, in terms of nationality; he was either Indian or Jewish,. He was old, he had leathery brown skin, white hair, balding with glasses - I couldn't see his face well from the angle I was at, and his accent sounded both Indian and Russian. He was very hard to hear, but he kept passing along fact after fact about the America's Cup - did I know this, did I know that? The best seats were out on the water, on stationary boats that served as almost floating theaters. The Swiss were landlocked but still participated in sailing, and were considered threats because of their technical expertise - sailing was all about who employed the most sophisticated weather prediction computer programs; they measured winds and other factors down to the nth degree. And so on.
I began to be really impressed with the depth and breadth of his knowledge. I asked clarifying questions, and he was always ready with an answer, facts that sounded plausible. Finally, I observed, "Wow, it seems like you know an awful lot about this. You must really be a fan."
"Not at all," my cabbie said. "I knew nothing about it before this week, but I pick up someone, and they are going there, or coming back, and I ask them, 'So, tell me about it' and they do. I've learned everything about it from my passengers."
I found this delightful. All that knowledge just came from fellow people - people who just wanted to share about this event they'd enjoyed, or anticipated. Such wealth of knowledge! Such complexity to be exchanged! It seemed like a charming simple form of community - we never met, me and his other passengers, but we were sharing experiences and knowledge. I felt hope for humanity - we could teach each other so much, about the America's Cup or even other subjects, we could learn from each other. It's possible.
I went home and took a look at a book I bought ages ago when I was visiting New York, called "Taxi Driver Wisdom." Here is a smattering of my favorite lines:
Vietnam war is finished but Sixth Avenue construction is never finished.
If someone steals your cab, then it wasn't your cab.
I enjoy fireworks but stars is nice too.
If you are good at anything, that is beauty.
Bike messengers - they search for death.
You have no one to blame but yourself and everyone else has you to blame, too.
Everybody go different way to see the same thing.
If you chose a new life, you must not have wanted the old one anymore.
We all connect, like a net we cannot see.
I like driving. Otherwise I take another job. Each thing can be everything for you. You make driving everything.
Time goes. That's it.
If your driver have nothing interesting to say to you, maybe because you have nothing interesting to say to him.
Any my very favorite, a final thought: I'm for better always. I'm for future.
Recently, I had to take a cab, and I asked, as I usually do, how it was going. Some cabbies will respond, will tell you just how it's going - and then usually that leads to an actual conversation. I often get to find out how long they've been doing this job, where their original home was, what they like or don't like about it. When I'm a visitor, often I find out interesting facts about the city I'm in - I like when they play pro temp tour guide.
In this case, my cabbie began to talk about the America's Cup, whose finals are currently taking place in San Francisco, or perhaps by now they just ended. But they happened or are happening, and it's apparently a big deal. It's sailing - I thought it was sailing but had no details. This cabbie was willing to supply me with some.
The finals were 17 races, and you had to get 9 of them to win; the Americans did something last year - something they were not supposed to, some type or form of cheating, I gather, and they were penalized by being handicapped. They would have to win 11 of 17 races, and that was unlikely. The Americans were game, but it was unlikely they would win. They had heart, perhaps - they were hosting it, and they were going to try, even though they were cheaters.
The cabbie did not say it that way, of course. He was very difficult to identify, in terms of nationality; he was either Indian or Jewish,. He was old, he had leathery brown skin, white hair, balding with glasses - I couldn't see his face well from the angle I was at, and his accent sounded both Indian and Russian. He was very hard to hear, but he kept passing along fact after fact about the America's Cup - did I know this, did I know that? The best seats were out on the water, on stationary boats that served as almost floating theaters. The Swiss were landlocked but still participated in sailing, and were considered threats because of their technical expertise - sailing was all about who employed the most sophisticated weather prediction computer programs; they measured winds and other factors down to the nth degree. And so on.
I began to be really impressed with the depth and breadth of his knowledge. I asked clarifying questions, and he was always ready with an answer, facts that sounded plausible. Finally, I observed, "Wow, it seems like you know an awful lot about this. You must really be a fan."
"Not at all," my cabbie said. "I knew nothing about it before this week, but I pick up someone, and they are going there, or coming back, and I ask them, 'So, tell me about it' and they do. I've learned everything about it from my passengers."
I found this delightful. All that knowledge just came from fellow people - people who just wanted to share about this event they'd enjoyed, or anticipated. Such wealth of knowledge! Such complexity to be exchanged! It seemed like a charming simple form of community - we never met, me and his other passengers, but we were sharing experiences and knowledge. I felt hope for humanity - we could teach each other so much, about the America's Cup or even other subjects, we could learn from each other. It's possible.
I went home and took a look at a book I bought ages ago when I was visiting New York, called "Taxi Driver Wisdom." Here is a smattering of my favorite lines:
Vietnam war is finished but Sixth Avenue construction is never finished.
If someone steals your cab, then it wasn't your cab.
I enjoy fireworks but stars is nice too.
If you are good at anything, that is beauty.
Bike messengers - they search for death.
You have no one to blame but yourself and everyone else has you to blame, too.
Everybody go different way to see the same thing.
If you chose a new life, you must not have wanted the old one anymore.
We all connect, like a net we cannot see.
I like driving. Otherwise I take another job. Each thing can be everything for you. You make driving everything.
Time goes. That's it.
If your driver have nothing interesting to say to you, maybe because you have nothing interesting to say to him.
Any my very favorite, a final thought: I'm for better always. I'm for future.
Good idea! Taxi drivers have certainly seen a cross section of mankind!
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