Taxis

Some drivers are very interesting, if you’re curious about people. Otherwise, Waymo is probably better. I like people.

Today I went to my bank in Noe Valley, a cute neighborhood. Going, I have the routine down: call the cab when ready to walk out the door. Keep cell phone handy, wait for “Your taxi has arrived.” Then hope he doesn’t drive off before you get to the sidewalk. Today, I was nearly there, exiting the gate. A man walking his dog caught the heavy gate and held it. I petting the sweet dog and said , thank you. He proceeded to open the taxi door. As I got it, I murmured, the Kindness of strangers. He said, I’m not a stranger, I live nearby. Should have gotten his name.

At the bank, all things checked out. Then, getting a ride home took an hour and a half before the taxi arrived.

Great people watching in the bank’s reception window. Lots of dogs walking people in various attire. And baby strollers, again leading mothers or helpers.

When my taxi finally arrived (I had to pee – oh, come on). The driver and I joked about what folks call cold weather here. When 42% they will say, “It’s so cold!” We related our own stories about cold weather. I don’t think upstate N.Y. Compares to Siberia.

My driver was from Ethiopia, in the military, and sent to Siberia for training. Civil war in Ethiopia, the Russians were training the soldiers.

I kept saying, “Oh!” And “Wow”.

Onto the next challenge, I called the behemoth, AT&T. I had switched to T-Mobile last July for a number of good reasons. When I got a robot, it said they could not find my account. Maybe their records finally got updated. I’m not holding my breath. They sent me a bill as recently as last month for a whopping $2,651.19. That’s 100% absurd. In my experience, AT&T is tenacious in their greed and not at all in service. Worst case, I will fight them with the help of Legal Aid for the Elderly. I have all my records.

I’m glad it’s Monday. I’ve processed the initial shock of Patti being gone. Although her departure was known to be. Took care of business. Patti would like that.