Cab #1309

Date: August 30, 2006
From: Wicker Park
To: Humboldt Park

The Cab: Neat and clean. I was surprised to see the seatbelts prominently displayed in the back rather than tucked away under the seats. Then the driving began and I understood.

The Driver: He seemed cheerful, but he was talking on a headset cell phone in heavily accented French the entire ride. This might have been the reason he drove as if we were on the Autobahn. It was a Francophone moment.

The Driving: The defining moment of the ride came at the intersection of Western and Augusta. The cabbie suddenly realized he had to make a right and slammed on his brakes in the middle of the intersection, neatly skidding a good ten feet, then swerved back at least 140 degrees in order to make the turn. His speed on Augusta was impressive - I peeked over the plastic partition and clocked him at forty-seven miles an hour. His observation of stop signs and lights was spotty at best.

The turn onto my street was similar to his earlier feat of physics, except that he was saying to the person on the other end of the phone, "Okay, man, talk to you later!" in a jaunty voice (no longer in French). Then he said to me, "Wow, we almost missed Augusta, there, huh?" and laughed like we'd just been on Space Mountain and he still had tickets left to take the ride again.

He seemed unusually pleased to be tipped. But I kinda liked it, too.

Overall rating: 3 extended arms

- ML Van Valkenburgh