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Drive a taxi. It's fun. Really.
April 27, 2004
Shortly after semi-quitting the taxi biz early yesterday by allowing the taxi owner to start his big plan to take over the night shift a week earlier than he planned, I got a call from him.
It seems my license had appeared on the list of suspended drivers sent out to the fleets and taxi agents. I remembered instantly why. I, myself, have failed to take the required drug test, a situation that I managed to heap derision on my roommate over getting into a few months ago. To be honest, I was aware of the coming TLC suspension hammer, yet never bothered. I barely care at this point. A suspension would make a nice little time-out.
Nevertheless, I was goaded into action by the development. I called the bottom of the barrel drug-testing company that the TLC had given the contract to. Okay, actually, they're cool in Staten Island. But that's a long way these days. You get the test done in Manhattan, you get treated like dogshit by masters of passive-aggression.
The dude on the phone said I had to go to the TLC offices and get an authorization to take the test. So, this morning I went. It's hard to say anything bad about the TLC offices these days. As long as you don't appear to be obviously angry you can do business with these folks. And they really have come a long way in the 9 years I've been around taxis. They're simply far more efficient. Also, it helps to get there verrry early. Like, right at 8am, when they open their doors to the needy supplicants.
To make a long story short, I'll probably have my license back by Monday. Not bad. But it just prolongs the inevitable. If they had a device to detect lack of interest in driving a taxi, that shit would be pegged at the top of the scale, man.
So why, then, did I bother going to the TLC to get this license deal taken care of?
Beats me, but it just isn't a good idea to close off your options. The problem is, it's the last resort that became my life.
Here's a guy that made an appearance in the New York Times, that I know, for he works at my old garage. I saw him damn near every day for years. His assessment of the state of things is spot-on accurate. It's the general summary that none of his fellow drivers really need to know about, because we're all more or less like him, just in different levels of. uh. 'advancement'.
Link. The NYT wants you to pay for this, and I don't. Sorry about the lack of formatting, I'm not webgod here.
It seems my license had appeared on the list of suspended drivers sent out to the fleets and taxi agents. I remembered instantly why. I, myself, have failed to take the required drug test, a situation that I managed to heap derision on my roommate over getting into a few months ago. To be honest, I was aware of the coming TLC suspension hammer, yet never bothered. I barely care at this point. A suspension would make a nice little time-out.
Nevertheless, I was goaded into action by the development. I called the bottom of the barrel drug-testing company that the TLC had given the contract to. Okay, actually, they're cool in Staten Island. But that's a long way these days. You get the test done in Manhattan, you get treated like dogshit by masters of passive-aggression.
The dude on the phone said I had to go to the TLC offices and get an authorization to take the test. So, this morning I went. It's hard to say anything bad about the TLC offices these days. As long as you don't appear to be obviously angry you can do business with these folks. And they really have come a long way in the 9 years I've been around taxis. They're simply far more efficient. Also, it helps to get there verrry early. Like, right at 8am, when they open their doors to the needy supplicants.
To make a long story short, I'll probably have my license back by Monday. Not bad. But it just prolongs the inevitable. If they had a device to detect lack of interest in driving a taxi, that shit would be pegged at the top of the scale, man.
So why, then, did I bother going to the TLC to get this license deal taken care of?
Beats me, but it just isn't a good idea to close off your options. The problem is, it's the last resort that became my life.
Here's a guy that made an appearance in the New York Times, that I know, for he works at my old garage. I saw him damn near every day for years. His assessment of the state of things is spot-on accurate. It's the general summary that none of his fellow drivers really need to know about, because we're all more or less like him, just in different levels of. uh. 'advancement'.
Link. The NYT wants you to pay for this, and I don't. Sorry about the lack of formatting, I'm not webgod here.
