Taxi Driver Wisdom

“Insights on love, pleasure, fate, and other topics” collected from conversations with New York City cabbies (AM New York). The worse a town’s economy is, the better looking the guys who work at the local gas station are. I see more of what is going on around me because I am not concerned with finding a parking place. There is no chivalry. For that you have to go upstate. Real taxi drivers know more than how to get you there without a GPS—often, they know how to get you there in life. This twentieth anniversary edition of the wise and hilarious classic, as true now as ever, is a celebration of the witty, philosophical perspective on human nature culled from real quotations from real cab drivers who’ve been around the block.

"New York cab drivers are the world's most accessible source of truth and wisdom"--Introduction.

In 2009, London cabbie Mark Solomon began asking passengers in the back of his taxi for a random quote or proverb. The project developed into a popular website (www.blackcabquotes.com), and this pocket-sized book offers the best thoughts for the day, ranging from the truly philosophical to the downright bizarre.

Every day is full of "what would you do?" moments. They can be as simple as times when you're considering whether to bother saying thank you to the taxi driver before getting out of the cab. Or they can be more complicated, such as when you've witnessed discriminating mistreatment of someone and you have to decide whether to speak up. We've all been there. What Would You Do?—Doing the Right Thing Even When You Think No One's Watching is full of real-life stories and staged ones from the highly rated ABC News program. Author John Quiñones takes readers on a journey of self-discovery and inspires them to act in ways they would if they thought a hidden camera was focused on them.

An outrageous encounter in a cab is a rite of passage in New York City. Trap two or more strangers in a careening yellow sedan and add an unexpected variable-say, a well-armed transvestite hooker, the urgent need for a restroom, or a stabbing victim-and the story that emerges is sure to be worth telling. In Taxi Confidential, cabbies ranging from a lead-footed pothead to a philosophizing immigrant sage grapple with what chance tosses their way. Author Amy Braunschweiger uncovers the best taxi stories from the 1970s through present day, and takes the reader on a 100-mile-per-hour ride through Gotham's darkest alleys, roughest neighborhoods, and hidden sweet spots.

Cab drivers! What a strange lot! Why would anyone want to drive a hack for a living? Other than being capable enough to safely operate a vehicle, you don't need any special skills or training. You don't need a university degree in the humanities, though you may become a qualified human affairs expert after driving a cab for several years. Cabbies must be the most misunderstood creatures in the world! Why else would they do what they do? Without it being said, a cab driver works twelve hour shifts on a routine daily basis. They often get assaulted, and even more often than not, they get ripped off. Society as a whole views cabbies as individuals with the same I.Q. as a lava lamp, who only drive a taxi because they can't get a job anywhere else, and, they probably have a criminal record too! They get screamed at, threatened, spat on, slapped, punched, kicked, stabbed, and tragically, some get murdered. What person in their right mind would want to take on this kind of a life when they could earn a lot more money with a lot less aggravation and abuse by simply donning a pair of dark glasses and selling pencils on any street corner? I drove a taxi in the city of Winnipeg for about twenty years for Red Patch Taxi. These memories are my memories and I am gladly sharing them with you, the reader. My biggest thanks go out to the city of Winnipeg and to all of its citizens whom I found to be the friendliest people anywhere! I hope that these stories of mine will move you emotionally, either with a smile, a laugh or a tear. Winnipeg, thanks for the memories! Savour the stories!

When her mother is sent to prison for three months for assaulting a policeman with a stiletto shoe, fifteen-year-old Caris goes gently off the rails. Whilst her taxi-driver father Mac attempts to keep the family together, Caris meets George, a boy from the other side of the vale and from a very different sort of family. Their relationship leads her away from school and what she has known, into a new and unnerving world - and looks set to throw the family into terrifying chaos. Julia Darling's acclaimed novel blends the gritty and the everyday with the evocative and the enchanting, to create an original, inventive and often moving portrayal of family ties, suburban life, love and growing up.

Cabdrivers and their yellow taxis are as much a part of the cityscape as the high-rise buildings and the subway. We hail them without thought after a wearying day at the office or an exuberant night on the town. And, undoubtedly, taxi drivers have stories to tell—of farcical local politics, of colorful passengers, of changing neighborhoods and clandestine shortcuts. No one knows a city’s streets—and thus its heart—better than its cabdrivers. And from behind the wheel of his taxi, Dmitry Samarov has seen more of Chicago than most Chicagoans will hope to experience in a lifetime. An artist and painter trained at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Samarov began driving a cab in 1993 to make ends meet, and he’s been working as a taxi driver ever since. In Hack: Stories from a Chicago Cab, he recounts tales that will delight, surprise, and sometimes shock the most seasoned urbanite. We follow Samarov through the rhythms of a typical week, as he waits hours at the garage to pick up a shift, ferries comically drunken passengers between bars, delivers prostitutes to their johns, and inadvertently observes drug deals. There are long waits with other cabbies at O’Hare, vivid portraits of street corners and their regular denizens, amorous Cubs fans celebrating after a game at Wrigley Field, and customers who are pleasantly surprised that Samarov is white—and tell him so. Throughout, Samarov’s own drawings—of his fares, of the taxi garage, and of a variety of Chicago street scenes—accompany his stories. In the grand tradition of Nelson Algren, Saul Bellow, Mike Royko, and Studs Terkel, Dmitry Samarov has rendered an entertaining, poignant, and unforgettable vision of Chicago and its people.