4 ms·

This is by the actual author though, at least according to http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/c/cabbie.htm http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/c/cabbie.htm

mortenjorck 15y ago
I'm going to guess this story has been Mike Daisey'd. The author quite likely did work as a cabbie, did pick up an elderly woman on her final trip to hospice care, and did make an unexpected detour around town to look at some landmarks from her life. It probably also happened in the middle of the day, only took about half an hour, and the patient probably didn't say "You gave an old woman a little moment of joy," because she fell asleep near the end of the ride. This is sad, because, just like Mike Daisey's story, there's plenty of value in what really transpired, and by exaggerating it, it loses its believability. By becoming overly sentimental, bordering on mawkish, it loses the impact that a frank, thoughtful reflection on the actual event could have had.
- chimeracoder 15y ago
  > By becoming overly sentimental, bordering on mawkish, it loses the impact that a frank, thoughtful reflection on the actual event could have had. Or it reflects how the event happened to him, as opposed to how the event just happened. When writing narrative essays, remember that truth is subjective, and you have a choice between being loyal to how it impacted the narrator and how it 'objectively happened'. If you want the latter, you'll just end up with an overdetermined logfile. I don't know what parts of David Sedaris's stories are true, and I don't care - all I know is that some of them are incredibly powerful emotionally, and that man sure knows how to nail the ending of a story.
  - Eliezer 15y ago
    Belief is subjective. Reality is objective. Since "truth" compares belief and reality, the output is not subjective. The belief that I can fly can make me expect to fly away when I jump off a cliff; only the truth of that belief can prevent me from hitting the ground.
    - chimeracoder 15y ago
      We're talking about an inspirational story told as a personal narrative. I'm willing to suspend some disbelief in this case to get the larger picture.
- PakG1 15y ago
  I'm going to guess this story has been Mike Daisey'd. Wow, is that seriously what they're calling it now? I guess that's genius. But I feel like that poor guy has been put to new lows just because he was out of his depth. Doesn't excuse him for what happened, I guess though.

mortenjorck 15y ago

I'm going to guess this story has been Mike Daisey'd. The author quite likely did work as a cabbie, did pick up an elderly woman on her final trip to hospice care, and did make an unexpected detour around town to look at some landmarks from her life. It probably also happened in the middle of the day, only took about half an hour, and the patient probably didn't say "You gave an old woman a little moment of joy," because she fell asleep near the end of the ride. This is sad, because, just like Mike Daisey's story, there's plenty of value in what really transpired, and by exaggerating it, it loses its believability. By becoming overly sentimental, bordering on mawkish, it loses the impact that a frank, thoughtful reflection on the actual event could have had.

chimeracoder 15y ago
> By becoming overly sentimental, bordering on mawkish, it loses the impact that a frank, thoughtful reflection on the actual event could have had. Or it reflects how the event happened to him, as opposed to how the event just happened. When writing narrative essays, remember that truth is subjective, and you have a choice between being loyal to how it impacted the narrator and how it 'objectively happened'. If you want the latter, you'll just end up with an overdetermined logfile. I don't know what parts of David Sedaris's stories are true, and I don't care - all I know is that some of them are incredibly powerful emotionally, and that man sure knows how to nail the ending of a story.
- Eliezer 15y ago
  Belief is subjective. Reality is objective. Since "truth" compares belief and reality, the output is not subjective. The belief that I can fly can make me expect to fly away when I jump off a cliff; only the truth of that belief can prevent me from hitting the ground.
  - chimeracoder 15y ago
    We're talking about an inspirational story told as a personal narrative. I'm willing to suspend some disbelief in this case to get the larger picture.
PakG1 15y ago
I'm going to guess this story has been Mike Daisey'd. Wow, is that seriously what they're calling it now? I guess that's genius. But I feel like that poor guy has been put to new lows just because he was out of his depth. Doesn't excuse him for what happened, I guess though.