Taking its toll

Photo by Sandy Phimester
Fuck! I know I'm back again. This job is hard to ditch. All you kids out there who've been driven by me know, they know I love my job, it's a big part of my life. Tonight I drove an academic. When he told me that he was an academic I wasn't sure what he meant. Then he said " I teach Political Science at the University." I asked him "Teach me something." He kinda laughed then said "with the rise of the middle class all over the world, especially in the heavily populated areas there is going to be an increase of need for protein." Then he looked me in the eyes from the back seat through the rear view and said "Saskatchewan is gonna be huge." He also said something about the Internet. If you would like to learn more go to the University of Alberta. The early evening was good. A few fares, theses two crack dealer whose bro just got out of the Remand Center. Actually they just called me like a minute ago, had to tell them that I only work till five am. Pretty sure they were watching the candle burn from both ends. METH. I had a few weird things happen to me, things I felt happened on purpose. The first was, at eleven as all the people were leaving the Folk Fest I decided to try to avoid any long line-ups and traffic back ups and stay clear of the venue. Well I caught a flag. I was very lucky. Some people had decided to walk to Downtown but as they got further away from the Folk Fest the more they realized it was late and cold and they needed a taxi. They flagged me down. They gave me their address. " Stony Plain Rd and 130 something street. I looked up at them and told them "I know that address." Then I heard a voice in the back seat say "Jacob." That put a smile on my face. I knew them and we met up by coincidence, what are the chances? That fare was beyond generous. Then as I was driving up Whyte ave I spotted a dude, a fare from the past, someone who had read the blog and commented. I poked my head through the window and silently screamed "Mickey." He looked at me and said "Jacob." I waved him in right away. We started talking, then out of nowhere he said " I owe you 40$ for driving me that time." I didn't know what he was talking about. I guess I had given him a ride and he didn't have the cash to pay. Then he lost my number and never was able to repay me. I forgot. All I remembered was that he had left an excellent comment on the blog. I remember thinking about him a few times, and why he stopped calling. Then there was this friend of mine who I met on the street next to 711 just out of the blue. He said "I knew you drove a Taxi. I think I saw you over there a few hours ago." He pointed toward the school close to where I dropped off the Political Scientist a few hours earlier. That was weird. He had already seen me. I also drove this rigger. Travels the world working in places like Syria and Iran. Well he was pissed with immigration Canada and he told me to tell you guys to read this about immigration. After looking at it I realized the guy was very radical and a little extreme, but hey who knows. He paid me very well. Then later I parked next to New City and well wouldn't you know Bryan Birtles from the Vue Weekly was chatting it up with some of the clubs patrons. He looked over and at the cab and then I heard him say "Jacob, is that you?" Again a smile came to my face. We chatted and then I continued into the night.I made no money, but toward the very end of the night I saw a guy walking up Jasper I took a second glance. It was Mickey, I did a U turn and caught up to the him. He had walked himself home form the bar. He said " I should have called you." All I could think was "you already gave me 40$ for nothing, I bet I was the last thing on your mind" I drove him the last block to his house, then I delivered a stool sample to Dyna Care.