Keep It Moving

I took a cab to Bleecker and MacDougal on Friday afternoon to meet Sebouh for drinks at our old happy hour haunt, 1849. If I could manage my time better, I could have taken the bus or even walked, but once again, it was back to the cab. When I worked in that neighborhood, I would end up taking a cab over there almost every day.

Because I know the route that cabs usually take to that part of Greenwich Village, when this cab driver started to weave his way over to Irving Place and down Park Avenue and then turned right off Broadway towards Mercer, north of Washington Square Park, I asked him, "Uh, which way are you going?"

He got defensive as most cab drivers do, and started shouting "I am taking Fifth Avenue! Second Avenue was blocked! Third Avenue was blocked! I am trying to keep moving!"

Instead of yelling back at him, which I'm generally apt to do, I told him I wasn't doubting him and was just curious to see how he was taking me there, because it was a new way. Again, he said, "I am just trying to keep moving!"

When we got to Fifth Avenue, he said, "See? Fifth Avenue is clear" and we sailed through green light after green light. I sat back and said, "I guess that's true in life too, huh? As long as you're moving forward..."

His demeanor turned, and I could hear him smiling as he said, "Yesss! Exactly!"