There are some cabs in this city that house furious drivers. There’s one guy who has even affixed a sign to his dashboard that says “I am an angry cabbie.” He just seethes, explosive hatred radiating from him like some poisonous cloud. I am sufficiently intimidated by him that when he asks me where I want to go, I simply say “hey, wherever is convenient for you would be just great!” And the he peels off into the night, his dispatcher crackling on the radio as he zips in and out of traffic, honking his horn like his team had just won the World Cup. No. More like he’d just killed the team that challenged his for the World Cup.
There was the cab driver with the accent I could not place—an accent that deserved a century, rather than a nation. It seemed like he belonged three hundred years ago. It was his first night and he spoke to his wife on his cell phone. He was excited, happy. While he drove me home, he kept telling her what he was doing, where he was going, “My pumpkin, I am now turning off of Main Street.”
“My cabbage, I should be home by two. I am kind of nervous, but everything seems to be going well.”
When he let me off, he had no money with which to give me my change. I was a little bit exasperated, but I told him not to worry about it. It was only four dollars or so. He fell over himself with apologies, promising that he would pay me back. I didn’t pay much attention to him. The next day when I got up, there was an envelope taped to my front door with the name Michael scratched on it. Inside the envelope there was four dollars in change.
My favourite cab contains rabbits. The driver allows two rabbits to run loose in his car. He says that it helps to calm his customers down.
Imagine stepping into that cab.
Maybe the night hadn’t gone that well, and a little bit drunk, you’re thinking that maybe true love will always elude you. You sit heavily in the back seat and sigh, and then looking down, suddenly notice two, little rabbits—whiskers twitching and sides heaving—staring up at you.
It would feel like some kind of miracle.