Below Freezing

Date: 9 December 2010
Day of Chronicles: 22
Hours: 4:30-6:30pm 
Rides Given: 1

My one ride today was a surreal experience: An Ivana Trump type in ankle-length fur flagged me down at 34th and 7th. She wanted to go to Barami. She knew it was up 7th Avenue, but she didn't know how far up. She kept gesturing up 7th as if ought to just go that way! I guess where she comes from they don't have one-way streets. Anyway - the upshot was she wanted me to wait for her while she shopped so I could then ferry her and her copious purchases to the Hilton at 53d and 6th. So I did wait - about twice as long as she'd originally asked - and did take her to the Hilton. She hadn't asked for a price up front, so as I was riding up 6th I was pondering what to charge her. Though I knew the average pedicab driver would ask far more, I settled on $30 as an appropriate price. As it happened, neither of us ever said a word about the price - and she gave me $30. 

That was decent, I suppose - $30 for an hour of my time (better than I do at my day job). But then I kept getting women telling me they wanted a "warm car," or it was too cold, and I got demoralized and decided to make one last short circuit up 6th and down 7th and then head back to the depot. Midway between 7th and 8th on 31st, at the crosswalk, a damn taxi honked at me, a millisecond after the light turned green. I yelled very loud and gave him the finger. Don't those dudes know that honking at someone not sealed inside a metal box is an act of war? An assault on the ears? And to what purpose? I probably made it to the intersection of 8th and 31st before he did. Sure, if we were out on the Great Plains I'd be eating his dust. But, guess what? There aren't any stop lights on the Great Plains. Or pedestrians. Or traffic jams. (Maybe every once in a while you run into a herd of buffalo crossing the road, which simulates the experience of all three.) So, Mr. Taxi Driver, take a chill pill. Move your fingers away from the panic button. You won't get where you're going any faster by making war on me.