RRoyce55
Active Member
So just got home, in a cab-ride. Pretty interesting story; thought i should share. For those that don't know, I live in Boston, one of the most liberal cities in the United States...
So I'm heading home, and hit my local bar, for a last call beer. pretty common; 1:30 a.m. on a friday night. I converse with my typical bartenders, drink my beer, and continue on my journey home. Step outside the bar, hail my customary cab to take me a 5 minute ride home. A cab flashes his lights at me, and he proceeds to pull over to pick me up. At this point, I hear a " HEY, YO!!" in my direction. I proceed to turn around toward the entrance of the bar i just exited to see 2 white males yelling towards the cab that just decided to pick me up. I then intuitively turn to my completely backside to see a white female standing about 3 steps off the curb that said cab apparently bypassed to pick me up. She has a disgruntled look on her face. I look back at the white male, and he reluctantly states "I guess we'll wait for the next cab." I proceed to get into said cab and be on my way.
3 traffic lights into my homeward bound direction, i notice an odd occurrence. Another cab pulls up on our right side. Cab driver in that cab proceeds to drop his window to talk quickly with my cab driver. My driver does the same and they quickly converse in kenyan (their native language). I notice that the 2 males and 1 other in the back of the cab are rather familiar. Then i notice the female in the front passenger seat is VERY familiar, the girl standing in the street a moment earlier.
I ask MY cabbie if my window is able to go down. He resets his controls and allows me to lower my window to the lowered windows beside me. I say, "hey, how ya doin". The white male to my right says, "hey man, sorry about all that. She's from the south and all." I say to him, " hey it's all good, we all got to get to somewhere, sometime." He looks at me odd, like he's shocked I actually responded. Then I said, " i've seen you before at Charlie's so what's your excuse??" No response is rendered beyond a dirty look. As the light turns green, I say as my cab speeds away, " Hey man, get used to it... black people sometimes get cabs before white people...", and we pull away.
The rest of the cab ride, I honestly ask MY cabbie, why he picked me up before them. He states, "why not??" I agree, though i'm slightly shocked. I tell him, "I wouldn't have been surprised if you had stopped to pick up that blond chick. That would have been what I considered normal and the status quo. I didn't even realize you had bypassed her until that white dude yelled at you for doing so."
At that point I realized, I was 1 step closer to being just another person, at least in Boston, Ma.
So I'm heading home, and hit my local bar, for a last call beer. pretty common; 1:30 a.m. on a friday night. I converse with my typical bartenders, drink my beer, and continue on my journey home. Step outside the bar, hail my customary cab to take me a 5 minute ride home. A cab flashes his lights at me, and he proceeds to pull over to pick me up. At this point, I hear a " HEY, YO!!" in my direction. I proceed to turn around toward the entrance of the bar i just exited to see 2 white males yelling towards the cab that just decided to pick me up. I then intuitively turn to my completely backside to see a white female standing about 3 steps off the curb that said cab apparently bypassed to pick me up. She has a disgruntled look on her face. I look back at the white male, and he reluctantly states "I guess we'll wait for the next cab." I proceed to get into said cab and be on my way.
3 traffic lights into my homeward bound direction, i notice an odd occurrence. Another cab pulls up on our right side. Cab driver in that cab proceeds to drop his window to talk quickly with my cab driver. My driver does the same and they quickly converse in kenyan (their native language). I notice that the 2 males and 1 other in the back of the cab are rather familiar. Then i notice the female in the front passenger seat is VERY familiar, the girl standing in the street a moment earlier.
I ask MY cabbie if my window is able to go down. He resets his controls and allows me to lower my window to the lowered windows beside me. I say, "hey, how ya doin". The white male to my right says, "hey man, sorry about all that. She's from the south and all." I say to him, " hey it's all good, we all got to get to somewhere, sometime." He looks at me odd, like he's shocked I actually responded. Then I said, " i've seen you before at Charlie's so what's your excuse??" No response is rendered beyond a dirty look. As the light turns green, I say as my cab speeds away, " Hey man, get used to it... black people sometimes get cabs before white people...", and we pull away.
The rest of the cab ride, I honestly ask MY cabbie, why he picked me up before them. He states, "why not??" I agree, though i'm slightly shocked. I tell him, "I wouldn't have been surprised if you had stopped to pick up that blond chick. That would have been what I considered normal and the status quo. I didn't even realize you had bypassed her until that white dude yelled at you for doing so."
At that point I realized, I was 1 step closer to being just another person, at least in Boston, Ma.
