Remembering the Garlic
For us cabdrivers, inclement weather both giveth and taketh away. On the one hand, fewer people venture out when it rains; on the other, those who do brave the weather take more cabs. Yes, I’m talking...
View ArticleBona Fide Strawberry Blonde
“It is beautiful up here!” my customer gushed from the shotgun seat as we motored along the highway en route to Stowe. She was a young, stylishly dressed professional with Twizzler-red lips and a full,...
View ArticleRain, Rain, Go Away
Daniel March’s plane was due in at 11:20 p.m. but touched down well after midnight. Earlier in the day, the landing gear had failed on a Southwest Airlines jet coming into LaGuardia, resulting in a...
View ArticleThe New Jersey Alphabet
I glanced to my side to observe a short, stocky, fortysomething guy wearing a billowy white cotton shirt. His pate appeared clean-shaven. This is a dude who can pull off that look, I thought. I’m bald...
View ArticleSo Funny
A man and two women drifted over to my cab as I trolled the streets of downtown Burlington. One of the women and the man jumped into the backseat. The remaining woman made a move to get in the front,...
View ArticleRunners
The college students are present in Burlington for about three-quarters of the year. When they’re away during the summer, the town is a very different place. Whether it’s better or worse is arguable,...
View ArticleChoosing Burlington
“Whew! That was a memorable first night out on the town, wasn’t it?” “Hey, girl — all’s well that ends well, right?” The two women talking to each other in the back of my taxi were young, bright-eyed...
View ArticleA Little Ditty About Jack and Diane
“You know, Bushey is a big Vermont name,” I said to a customer sitting beside me in my taxi. We had just crossed over onto the islands en route to a drop-off at the Plattsburgh ferry. The day was sunny...
View ArticleFrenemies
It was five minutes past the scheduled pickup time, and I was worried. I should have pinned this down earlier when I took the call, I thought, castigating myself as I sat idling in front of Hotel...
View ArticleHarper Visits Vermont
The late-afternoon call came in from Majestic Car Rental on the Shelburne Road rotary. Majestic is one of the local businesses — a small group mostly composed of restaurants and bars — that contact me...
View ArticleDelightful Guys
The couple entering my taxi was in high spirits; a Saturday night in B-town has that effect on people. The guy was toting a bulging sausage sandwich, glistening and greasy. The thing smelled like death...
View ArticleSongbird in Winter
Sunday is my one day off, except when I work on Sunday, which is most of the time. Perhaps I should quit saying that I’m off on Sundays, but that would be too depressing — the recognition that I work...
View ArticleForty-Two Years
On this unseasonably warm afternoon, the customers in the backseat of my taxi were impeccably dressed — not chic, but classic. Byung wore a black suit, cream-colored shirt and light purple tie fastened...
View ArticleHoliday Party
It was the Thursday before Christmas, and I was invited to a holiday party. I’m not, by nature, a party animal, but I was looking forward to this one. It was being held at Hotel Vermont, from 6 to 10...
View ArticleFeelings
“Where are you, Jernigan? Middlebury, Montréal, Stowe?” Linda, a regular customer, was quizzing me on my whereabouts. The last couple of times she’d called for a ride, she caught me out of town with...
View ArticleThe Land Down Under
“So, Montpelier is pretty small for a state capital?” The customer sitting next to me in my taxicab, Joanna Dunwright, was short and pert, with shoulder-length, ruler-straight blond hair. As she spoke,...
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