Uncle Block's Torch of Freedom
I have decided to do something different .... I am going to include the following Youtube video on all of my pages even though it takes up a lot of space at the top of the page. This man, Pat Condell, is, in my opinion, someone who needs to be heard.
Watch the video. If you think what he is saying makes sense make sure you watch all of his videos on YouTube.
As far as I am concerned this man is a breath of fresh air in a world of political and superstitious bullshit that seems to be flooding our world more than ever these days.
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Trust Me!
March 16, 2005
Cowardly Statists Harass the Weak
I vaguely remember watching a western once where a guy said, "trust me", and one of the heroes replied, "my daddy always told me whenever someone says 'trust me' run away as fast as you can."
Daddy was right.
This bit of wisdom applies to the cab business in triplicate. The situation usually goes down something like this,
Passenger: "I'm going all the way up to Hell's Half Acre, but I don't have the money with me... they're going to pay at the other end." It's usually on the nice long trips where the rip-offs go down.
Driver: "let me guess, they are going to write me a check?"
Passenger: "No, I guarantee they will have the money. trust me man!"
The "guarantee" part is just where the guy digs himself in deeper. Other signals include the words, "for sure", "absolutely", "I wouldn't lie to you!", as though it should be self-evident, etc., etc.
"Trust me," is an excellent tip-off. The prelude to a rip-off. Once I learned this it also became the signal for the drop-off. Not all passengers will leave the vehicle without an argument at this juncture. Some will even get down-right threatening. You know the type, you've never seen the asshole before in your life, don't know him from Adam, yet he takes extreme offense at your reluctance to trust him. Trust is something that has to be earned... when a complete stranger threateningly demands it, unearned he is unwittingly revealing his entire moral ethos. You know this guy is either a criminal... or a member of the Liberal or NDP parties.
If you're in an isolated spot you may have to drive a few blocks until you find a place with lights and people before you throw the guy out.
Sometimes you will be wrong. To minimize the type two error, where you kick out an honest passenger, you have to use your best judgement. Remember Andy Sipowitz on NYPD showing Andy Jr. the ropes of being a cop. He tells Andy Jr., "People, places, the things they do, the times they do 'em." Excellent advice.
Back to Hamilton's Unofficial Taxi Pages
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See Robert De Niro in the film Taxi Driver directed by Martin Scorsese.
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Also available from amazon.com Taxi Blues (1990) - English subtitles
Starring: Piotr Mamonov, et al. |
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.. and these books |
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Taxi Driver Wisdom by Risa Mickenberg, Joanne Dugan
Taxi : The Official Fan's Guide |
Taxi from Hell : Confessions of a Russian Hack
Taxi! : The Story of the 'London' Taxicab |
last modified:Wednesday,March 19, 2008 at 04:40
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