the funny, the sad, the bad - a cabby's tale.

Hello,

I drive a Yellow in Brisbane from 3am - 3pm Friday to Monday inclusive. If you do those times, you surely do see a world that is different to the mainstream.

But I thought you might be interested in sharing, so herewith the No.1 episode of "the funny, the sad, the bad".

The Bad:-

Driving through the Valley at 4.30am on Sunday morning, the aftermath of a huge Saturday night (the Valley is my preferred locale since the youngsters are mainly high on 'E' and therefore happy and soft, not alcohol-doused/soused, aggressive, abusive, hormonal and obscene as is the norm in the city). Anyway, hailed down by two caucasians (mid 20's) who got into the back seats and insisted I pick up their very drunk, part aboriginal 'friend' a few metres further up the street. He got into the passenger seat and promptly lolled across onto my shoulder as he fell asleep.

The whiteys told me to go to Wynnum ( a bayside suburb a fair distance from the city) and spoke to each other of things like 'lock-up', jail, parole etc as I drove along (not listening).

When we got to Wynnum, they suddenly got me to stop (on the side of a road outside a schoolyard, definitely not at a house) and both got out while waking their 'friend' - telling him to pay the $24+ fare.

They waited in the shadows of the footpath while he opened his wallet (absolutely filled with $50 notes!) and paid me.

I figured they were going to roll him, so talked with him a while, and they waited and then he got out. So I pretended to frig around with the meter, the hail light, my records of hire etc to stay close to him just in case. And apart from raised voices and a few chest pushes nothing did, so I had to drive away. But the white guys were bad dudes for mine, and the drunken half-caste was an okay person. (I bet he got rolled, and the cops didn't/wouldn't believe his tale. But he was wronged.)

The Sad:-

A young lady (she was 23) gotr into my cab (back seat) at Carindale shopping town. I said a few things which obviously struck a chord with her, so she simply started talking to me.

She told me she was a heroin addict and had been for 10 years (which is how I found out she was 23, since on my asking she said she had started using h at 13 years of age. She told me, quite openly, she got the money for it by prostituting herself, had been sent to prison on several occassions and had tried many centres of detox etc. - Butshe has been clean for 6 months now, and she believes it is due to her joining NA (which has a spiritual aspect she believes extremely important).

I've carried and talked with other addicts on (for example) the methadone program and they were perfunctionary, not enlivened like this young lady.

I wished her well with her life, and left.

The FUNNY:-

This happened Sunday at 4am. I'd picked up a chap in the Valley, and was driving him home to Hawthorne. During the last kilometre or so I was aware of a white Verada following us. It followed us into the small street where my fare alighted (the Verada staying some 20 metres back), then followed me back onto the major (Hawthorne) road - flashing high beam into my rear vision mirror. Pissed me off this did - so I slowed down so that they might draw past. They drew alongsidee , and then one of the three young asian male occupants of the car motioned to me to pull over!

I did.

They stopped in front. The 2 males in the back got out, and then without words, inserted themselves into my rear seats. ???????

I said - hello! Where do you want to go?

One said ----->"he'll tell you." !!!!

The 'other' said - "we want sex!"

Since I'm not good at that (judging from two divorces), I said Brisbane has 4 legal brothels and I'd go to the closest.

On the way there (shadowed by the Verada) I discovered they had been driving around in the Verada for 2 hours looking for the brothel their compatriot (the Verada driver) had visited some months before. After 2 hours, they thought it best to seek help. Me!

I took them to the Woollongabba establishment. Asking me to wait, all three went in.

They came back out, saying the waiting time was 40 minutes (you obviously have to wait for virgins), and the girls did not particularly grab their fancy.

So I suggested Yerogpilly. "No!" said the Verada driver. He'd been to that one.

So, back into my cab and off we go to Albion. But the pasasengers in the back seat got a phone call from the trailing Verada madman saying he didn't want to go to the brothel I was apparently heading to - seems he'd been there before and was ousted.

So I said okay and proceeded past that to take them to Zillmere - now this is quite a fair way out on the northside of the city, and the 2 in the back were starting to seem a little aprehensive as I drove further and furhter into the sticks. They kept asking me questions like "Where is the city?" while the Verada driver kept frantically ringing and quizzing them.

How nice it was for all of us to pull into the carpark of Truly Elegant.

How nice it was for me to collect the $34 fare and pull away, waving back to their waved farewells... knowing that this one establishment services both sexes!

Bless em.

........................................................................

And so, there 'tis.

If people are interested enough in a cabby's perspective, I'll repeat this with Episode 2.

But not until I'm asked.

bye.dub