I go to work early on Saturdays before the buses start running, so I always have to take a taxi crosstown to the studio. The cab driver is usually a foreigner who drives while babbling a mile a minute in some exotic language on his cellphone - not that there's anything wrong with that - well, except that it's illegal to talk on the phone and drive. This past Saturday (the 4th of July) was different because much to my surprise, behind the wheel of my taxi was a genuine, old school, New York City cab driver - I'm talking right out of central casting. His name was Pitkin. I know this not because I looked at his hack license (I forgot), but because he kept referring to himself in the 3rd person. "My doctor always says 'Pitkin, you're a piece of work'." It was dark and I never got a really good look at him. As far as I could tell, he was middle-aged, short, with wavy black hair and had a funny voice with a Brooklyn accent thicker than Junior's Cheesecake. The very cool and mellow Jazz on his radio provided the perfect soundtrack. It felt like Martin Scorsese was directing my cab ride. Pitkin began our conversation with the weather. "It's going to be a nice day today with no rain. Three months of April is all I can take." Then he held up a small bag. "If you really want a good snack, you should try these Dirty Potato Chips. They're covered with jalapeno pepper dust." I told him that sounded too spicy for my stomach. "Spices I can handle. They make a great cracked black pepper chip too. It's the sugar I have to stay away from. I'm diabetic." I asked if the potato chips raised his blood sugar. "Well, I really didn't eat much else today. Everything in moderation. Did you know diabetics can eat ice cream? I like to have a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. I read somewhere your body works so hard to digest the fat in the ice cream that the sugar sneaks by unnoticed. I told my doctor and he said 'Pitkin, you know too much for you own good'. My doctor always gives me a hard time. He's OK." I looked up and we were at the studio on 57th and 5th. My all to short ride with Pitkin was over. I gave him a generous tip, we wished each other a happy Fourth, and he drove off into the night. Chances are slim that I'll ever get to ride with Pitkin again, but it's great to know that guys like him are still out there driving cabs.
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