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Another Random Road Story #591

That’s

What You Pay me For

“That’s what you pay me for (sic).”
That’s what I said to the man in the backseat.

One time in the taxicab…

I was driving a man home from the company’s home base of “trendy town” to his residence in
the larger city. It was late at night. It was so late that it was actually the next day.
Working the night shift means my days are really long, but my days don’t start until 3pm.
The weather was mild and the traffic was light. We had to make several turns and cross many
intersections and I was ever-thankful for that benefit of driving on the night shift – light traffic.
We rode along and made pleasant conversation to pass the time.

The man was in the cab because he was out with friends and had a few drinks, and didn’t
want to drive home and risk a ticket – or worse. I was driving the cab because I liked to drive,
and the hours and mobility worked out well with managing my kids and household.
The roads and traffic lights clicked by as we made our way toward his destination. About a
mile from the customer’s house we were at a red light, waiting for our turn. The traffic was very
light, the night was dark but clear. It seemed pointless to wait when there’s no traffic crossing.
Okay, ONE car will pass. The headlights of a car could be seen at a distance, coming down
the road that crossed in front of us. I looked at the red light and back to the approaching
headlights, listening to the customer talk about his job.
While I listened to the man I also thought, “Will that car cross before the light changes or will it
have to stop (break stride) and wait (pointlessly) like I’m doing?” I continued to watch the car as
the customer and I made our small talk. Inside my mind I was prepared to laugh good-naturedly
at the car’s misfortune if it happened miss its green light.
The opposing light turned yellow. Good. I was ready to finish this trip and get back to town for
another run. The lone approaching car was still three blocks away.
Ha! You gotta stop for me! My mind sang the thought like a child on a playground.