You want to start your conversation with the cabman right away, ideally, to avoid that unpleasant tinge of mere business that can happen. Keep it light and lean.
The cabbie heard me moaning and groaning. You hurt? Yeah. Bad back. Oh that's a killer. Makes everything else hurt. You carrying luggage or something? Nah, dishwasher. I tried going too fast, I was walking backwards, held the damn thing out from my body too far. With those things you gotta maybe pick up the thing behind you and face forward, and let the guy in back push you. Yeah. You know what I mean? No you're right.
The voices blend together. Dyad.
We talked about exercise. Some people are just destined to be fat, you know, no matter how much exercise they do. Then some people are just the opposite. Yeah I know what you mean. You see all these incredibly fat construction workers and you think, Jesus, if those guys worked desk jobs, they'd weigh a thousand pounds. Yeah, they'd be sumo wrestlers or something. Some of it's genetic though. Yeah my mom could never keep the weight off. Is that right? Whereas my dad, he's 71 now but twenty years ago I wouldn't have wanted to run afoul of him. He can drop twenty or thirty pounds and put it on again. Underneath he's got these muscles. I suspect a lot of people my age have fathers like that, and aren't that. Hard, I mean. (And I thought: maybe you're as hard as your life has been.) Heck, my father when he was a young man was fierce. He had a fierce temperament. When I was younger I had the temper but I wasn't fierce. I've been in fights to defend myself but usually the other guy doesn't get hurt. But that's not such a bad way to live, is it?
Keep the ten, buddy.
Have a good night.
You too sir.
The right cab driver, you can talk forever. Surely hidden treasures of this city and that and this. It takes talking to finally hear.
