Taxi Vignettes

This morning the couple in the backseat were discussing what they were going to do when they arrived in Mexico. I tuned them out and listened to the dispatcher giving some driver heck about not wanting the call that he had been given.

We were still miles away from the airport, I was doing my best to maneuver through traffic safely, the dispatcher had gotten over his rant, and I began to tune back in to the couple's conversation.

The woman was asking her husband a question and his reply was, "What?". She then repeated the question. Every time she either asked a question or made a statement, his reply was the same thing. What-What-What. She acted as if this was a normal response. She didn't seem to be gritting her teeth or pulling her hair out, but I was.

It was driving me crazy. I thought just maybe if I asked her some questions, she would stop talking to Mr.What until we got to the airport. I asked things like, "Where are you and your husband going, and what is the weather like there?". We were on the airport grounds, but I still needed about three more minutes to get them to American Airlines. I hate to ask women if they work, because all women work, but I was running out of material. I asked, "Do you work?".

What happened next made me really glad this long strange trip was at its end. I had asked her the question about her working. She said that because her husband was a dentist she could afford to stay home. At first I just thought how nice for them. Then it hit me! Crikey, a dentist that couldn't hear. I started thinking about being in the chair with all that dental equipment in my mouth, and this guy asking me a question.

I heard, "Cabbie, Cabbie!". "What?". I had almost driven past American.