Was about to write the same thing. Taxi drivers aren't stupid and they weren't "fail[ing] to respect" the author, they want to maximize their earnings, they als

Was about to write the same thing. Taxi drivers aren't stupid and they weren't "fail[ing] to respect" the author, they want to maximize their earnings, they also want to get their cars back before the set shift change; if they're late they have to pay a fine (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/12/nyregion/12taxi.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/12/nyregion/12taxi.html?_r=0). The advice people are giving to just jump in the cab applies in the case where the driver's off-duty light is not on, but the rider looks like they're going to some part of Brooklyn (or wherever) that the driver doesn't want to go, and the driver is wrongly being selective. The situation of having to just jump in the car has never come up for me in Manhattan with an on-duty car, it has before in Brooklyn though.