Taxi Vignettes

I live in the Willow Glen neighborhood of central San Jose, California. It is located southwest of Downtown San Jose.

One of the local weekly newspapers is the Willow Glen Resident. The paper keeps me up to date on the shopping district, upcoming events, and my neighbors. I was contacted by reporter, Mayra Flores De Marcotte, asking if I would be willing to be the topic of her next story. We chose a day for her ride along in my taxi.

I picked up Mayra, and we were ready to hit the streets. I logged the taxi into Willow Glen, which is zone-210. We drove around the tree lined streets, while Mayra asked me questions.

The taxi's computer began to click--click--click, signaling a possible call, then it beeped. We had a call, but it was too far away from Willow Glen to go for. I hit the reject button, and we continued the interview.

Finally a call came in, close enough to take. The address was off of Pearl Ave. It looked like an apartment complex, but it was actually some type of care facility. I couldn't find the correct building number, so I had to get out and check with the office. I was told in very broken English--off of Branham, go in off of Branham. I have been driving cab long enough to know that was all the information I was likely to receive.

Back in the taxi, I told Mayra that we would have to backtrack, and find it somewhere off of Branham Lane. This call was taking much too long to locate, and I could feel the tightness starting to creep across my back. I had to guess which side street to take. Thankfully, I picked the one that brought us to some buildings in the same style, and color of those back off of Pearl Ave.

As we turned into a parking lot I saw a woman, holding a phone, waving at me. She had a man with her. She gave me an address, and a few instructions, for he spoke very little English. I asked her what was with the complex, why was it closed off down the center, forcing me to drive all the way around. She said that drivers looking for a shortcut would race through, so it was fenced off. Irritated as I was, I managed to get the man to his Doctor appointment in time. It was a decent paying trip, so it turned out okay.

I pulled into the nearest Starbucks on Blossom Hill Road. I told Mayra that I had a Starbucks gift card, given to me by one of my regular riders, that she could use to buy us coffee.

We sat zoned into 610, Los Gatos, talking and sipping our drinks. I was just about to suggest that we head back to Willow Glen when I heard the telling clicks and then the beep. The call, from Los Gatos Hospital, took us to downtown San Jose.

So far I had only booked $50. Not very good, but that is the taxi business. It is the luck of the draw and timing, mixed with gut feelings that make up a cabbies day. We headed off to the airport because I had a "personal" due in soon.

Having Mayra ride along was a mixed bag. Even though it was an interesting day, it was odd having the press taking down my words.

A few days later I got a call from the photographer, Vicky, could she ride along and take photos to accompany the story? Eek!!