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When people call taxi they don't hope to see interesting human to talk with, they need a car to move them from point A to point B. This driver expects his clien

When people call taxi they don't hope to see interesting human to talk with, they need a car to move them from point A to point B. This driver expects his clients to be wondered about him or his life, when they don't expect it and often don't want to spend their time to be somebody's psychotherapist. It's sad he is so lonely, but taxi is not that place which should fix it - maybe dating sites.

illumen 11y ago
Maybe a professional therapist plus friends and family would be better than randoms.
- test1235 11y ago
  Are therapists expensive?
  - illumen 11y ago
    Hopefully they are covered by the medical system.
    - aaronem 11y ago
      Did you not read the part about what it's like to try to get benefits through the VA? World War II was the last time the United States gave anything like a genuine damn about their expended soldiers; they've never given less of one than they do today. Why else would so many have no better option than to work for a company which plainly regards its human drivers as nothing more or less than an eminently disposable means of bootstrapping to the point where robot cars are practicable?
    - protomyth 11y ago
      from the VA? nope, you get more drugs than is wise after you wait over a year for the paperwork. At this point, closing all the VA centers and paying for the same medical insurance that Congress gets for our veterans would be cheaper and better. A lot of the problems is the US's approach (or lack thereof) to Mental Health issues. We attack symbols instead of dealing with the actual problem that we have some folks with broken brains. Some of those folks are veterans and the US needs to deal with the breakage. The current system is a disaster. Lord help our Native American Veterans who not only get to deal with the VA but also IHS.
PuffinBlue 11y ago
I think you've mis-read the tone, or just plain don't understand/have experience of the military mindset. This isn't a pity piece, he not expecting something from his passengers or expecting them to wonder about him. In fact, I'd say that's the whole point of the piece - how he knows he an outsider, a nobody in a world of somebodies, a dispassionate observer, one who recognises his own lack of humanity to his charges: > A robot could do my fucking job He's grateful for the job, grateful for the lifeline and merely telling the objective story of an outsider in a different world. > Where I live, people are already dead. But at night, I pick up people with lives, and money in their pockets, places to go, things to do, people to see. And yet, he reminds us throughout that people are fuck ups no matter their monetary wealth or 'social standing': >One pick-up I had was outside a restaurant in Hayes Valley. I had my hazards on while I waited patiently, observing them passionately kiss each another. They kissed as if they were in love. It reminded me of the way I kissed, when I too was in love. Their goodbye took forever and when she finally got in my car, she pulled out her cell phone. >"Hey honey, how's it going? Oh, it was boring, I wanted to leave the whole time. How are the kids? Good... Oh, remember that one coworker I told you about? I just found out he's been sleeping with all the associates... he's married too, I like his wife... he's a good guy..." I'm sure he is. I think the piece is fascinating, not least because I've felt the sting of invisibility myself, but don't go mistaking it as a pining lament to be one of the chosen ones or that he's calling on his passengers to be his psychologist.
- vacri 11y ago
  > he not expecting something from his passengers That the author is passing judgement on the non-talkers shows that he is expecting something from them. Like when he talks of his Combat Infantry Badge, and the only two options available are 'not notice' or 'notice and not care'. Plenty of people would notice and care a lot, but not want to get into a discussion that they think would lead to an argument. He's basically expecting to get his ego soothed with the medal. It's a well-written piece, but he is projecting a lot of motivation onto people that doesn't necessarily exist. For example, when I catch a cab, I don't like to talk to the driver. It's not because I think they're a robot or the 'hired help' or beneath me or whatever. It's because I loathe small talk, and most cab conversations are exactly the same. There's also a fair chance of getting into a conversation with a passionate bigot, which is never fun. The last taxi I had included a generally one-sided conversation where the driver kept trying to suggest-sell a brothel visit to me. Frankly, cab conversations are just not that interesting. Bit of an aside there, but I would guess a lot of people feel the same.
nicboobees 11y ago
God forbid we should actually interact with our fellow humans. I guess the next step down this path is to replace waiters etc with robots - again reducing the amount you have to interact with other humans. When I get in a taxi, I actually enjoy talking to the driver, asking about the local area, the news, and making both our days a tiny bit more interesting. As the world population increases, and cities grow and grow I can only see this getting worse - millions of humans bunched together, and all of them scared to talk to each other. (In case you hadn't guessed I'm not a city person)
- eropple 11y ago
  I find that it depends quite heavily on the city in question. I live in Boston, where a lot of folks do generally keep to themselves, and it does suck sometimes (if I could get a good gig in a city that wasn't worse--hello, New York, hello, San Francisco--I would), but there are plenty of cities that emphatically don't feel this way. Portland, Oregon comes to mind. Both Dublin and Galway, in Ireland, too.

illumen 11y ago

Maybe a professional therapist plus friends and family would be better than randoms.

test1235 11y ago
Are therapists expensive?
- illumen 11y ago
  Hopefully they are covered by the medical system.
  - aaronem 11y ago
    Did you not read the part about what it's like to try to get benefits through the VA? World War II was the last time the United States gave anything like a genuine damn about their expended soldiers; they've never given less of one than they do today. Why else would so many have no better option than to work for a company which plainly regards its human drivers as nothing more or less than an eminently disposable means of bootstrapping to the point where robot cars are practicable?
  - protomyth 11y ago
    from the VA? nope, you get more drugs than is wise after you wait over a year for the paperwork. At this point, closing all the VA centers and paying for the same medical insurance that Congress gets for our veterans would be cheaper and better. A lot of the problems is the US's approach (or lack thereof) to Mental Health issues. We attack symbols instead of dealing with the actual problem that we have some folks with broken brains. Some of those folks are veterans and the US needs to deal with the breakage. The current system is a disaster. Lord help our Native American Veterans who not only get to deal with the VA but also IHS.

PuffinBlue 11y ago

I think you've mis-read the tone, or just plain don't understand/have experience of the military mindset. This isn't a pity piece, he not expecting something from his passengers or expecting them to wonder about him. In fact, I'd say that's the whole point of the piece - how he knows he an outsider, a nobody in a world of somebodies, a dispassionate observer, one who recognises his own lack of humanity to his charges: > A robot could do my fucking job He's grateful for the job, grateful for the lifeline and merely telling the objective story of an outsider in a different world. > Where I live, people are already dead. But at night, I pick up people with lives, and money in their pockets, places to go, things to do, people to see. And yet, he reminds us throughout that people are fuck ups no matter their monetary wealth or 'social standing': >One pick-up I had was outside a restaurant in Hayes Valley. I had my hazards on while I waited patiently, observing them passionately kiss each another. They kissed as if they were in love. It reminded me of the way I kissed, when I too was in love. Their goodbye took forever and when she finally got in my car, she pulled out her cell phone. >"Hey honey, how's it going? Oh, it was boring, I wanted to leave the whole time. How are the kids? Good... Oh, remember that one coworker I told you about? I just found out he's been sleeping with all the associates... he's married too, I like his wife... he's a good guy..." I'm sure he is. I think the piece is fascinating, not least because I've felt the sting of invisibility myself, but don't go mistaking it as a pining lament to be one of the chosen ones or that he's calling on his passengers to be his psychologist.

vacri 11y ago
> he not expecting something from his passengers That the author is passing judgement on the non-talkers shows that he is expecting something from them. Like when he talks of his Combat Infantry Badge, and the only two options available are 'not notice' or 'notice and not care'. Plenty of people would notice and care a lot, but not want to get into a discussion that they think would lead to an argument. He's basically expecting to get his ego soothed with the medal. It's a well-written piece, but he is projecting a lot of motivation onto people that doesn't necessarily exist. For example, when I catch a cab, I don't like to talk to the driver. It's not because I think they're a robot or the 'hired help' or beneath me or whatever. It's because I loathe small talk, and most cab conversations are exactly the same. There's also a fair chance of getting into a conversation with a passionate bigot, which is never fun. The last taxi I had included a generally one-sided conversation where the driver kept trying to suggest-sell a brothel visit to me. Frankly, cab conversations are just not that interesting. Bit of an aside there, but I would guess a lot of people feel the same.

nicboobees 11y ago

God forbid we should actually interact with our fellow humans. I guess the next step down this path is to replace waiters etc with robots - again reducing the amount you have to interact with other humans. When I get in a taxi, I actually enjoy talking to the driver, asking about the local area, the news, and making both our days a tiny bit more interesting. As the world population increases, and cities grow and grow I can only see this getting worse - millions of humans bunched together, and all of them scared to talk to each other. (In case you hadn't guessed I'm not a city person)

eropple 11y ago
I find that it depends quite heavily on the city in question. I live in Boston, where a lot of folks do generally keep to themselves, and it does suck sometimes (if I could get a good gig in a city that wasn't worse--hello, New York, hello, San Francisco--I would), but there are plenty of cities that emphatically don't feel this way. Portland, Oregon comes to mind. Both Dublin and Galway, in Ireland, too.