Cab #6604

Date Taken: 2/6/07
From:: Wicker Park
To:: Loop

The Cab: With no separating glass between the front and back seats, and bucket front seats instead of the high-backed bench seat, this was the cab equivalent to having seats really close to the field. The additional touch of bills and mail stuffed under the visors made it feel like I was just getting a ride from a friend.

The Driver: Seemed calmly in control in a light but pesky snowfall. Never stopped talking on his phone, however. Seemed to speak an Afro-Franglais dialect of some sort, lapsing into some sort of Spanglish. Every once in awhile I'd hear an English phrase, the most intriguing of which were "I am beginning to believe in a lot of things" and "You gotta move on . . . but she's nice to me."

The Driving: Calm and steady, patiently negotiating a worsening freeway situation with ease and grace.

Overall rating: 3.5 extended arms. Something about this trip wasn't right, but I haven't put my finger on it yet. He was good. Not great. But good. Too good.

- Steve Rhodes

*

There are more than 6,000 cabs in the city of Chicago. We intend to review every one of them.