Abbottabad and Washington cabbies' no-holds-barred views

[ensho]

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/americas/2011/05/04/abbottabad-and-washington-cabbies-no-holds-barred-views


"1010 Wisconsin Avenue please," I said, as I shuffled into the back seat of my taxi, snappily pronouncing the digits as "ten-ten".

-snip-

"1010 wisconsin, huh? Why not 9-9 Jefferson? Or 8-8 Lincoln? Or 7-7 Washington"

-snip-

"So if I told you to take me to number 6-6-6, what would the street name be?"

-snip-

"Obama Street, of course." He rolled the 'r' of "of cour-r-r-se". He seemed Iraqi, but I wasn't entirely sure.

"And why Obama?" I asked.

"Because he's an idiot. He should've waited six months. Very stupid."

-snip-

"Six more months to tell us they killed that guy, and he would have won re-election easy. Now the Republicans have too much time."

-snip-
------------------------

do read on

the last sentence: That's where I reflect on my favourite sources, never shy to speak their minds, from Bush to bin Laden, the Pentagon to Abbottabad, steering their wheels as the world steers out of control.

mods - is a sentence considered a paragraph when excerpting? if so, then I've gone over the limit.

[xchrom]

1. good article. nt

[On the Road]

2. Cab Drivers are a Great Educational Resource

whenever I have a foreign cab driver, I ask about his home country. Have learned a lot that way.

[CTyankee]

4. I got a really detailed description of halol food by an Egyptian driver

who was taking me from New Haven to JFK. It was a LONG ride...but I now know that halol and kosher aren't the same...

[On the Road]

5. I've Had Several Nigerians and Other Africans

tell me all about the domestic situation in their country. If you know the name of the capital, the president, or one of the major tribes, they will tend to open up at great length.

More importantly though, you take a cab from New Haven to JFK? Doesn't the shared limo still stop at Long Wharf?

:)

[CTyankee]

6. This WAS the shared limo from Long Wharf.

I was the only customer until Bridgeport. It was an odd time (middle of the afternoon) on a Saturday. My flight to Paris didn't leave until 9:40 pm, but you need to check in two hours in advance for an international flight, even if you get your boarding pass on line. And I like to tack on an extra hour because there are LONG lines at security.

[woo me with science]

3. In 2006 there were more DC cabbies from Ethiopia than any other country.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/09/AR2006030902180.html

[Drunken Irishman]

7. Many of our cabbies here in Salt Lake are from Africa too.