There are over 13,000 yellow cabs in New York. So it's very, very rare to get the same driver twice, and since you have to hail yellow cabs on the street (they are not allowed to be radio-dispatched, so you can't call them), the odds of getting the same guy twice are slimmer still. But I've had Sal Bongiorno twice in three weeks.
Sal is a throwback. Despite what you may see in the movies, Italian-American cab drivers are close to extinct in this city, and have been for some time. Cab drivers these days are from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Russia, Ukraine, Jamaica, west Africa, Haiti, Yemen, Egypt, Syria, Lybia. They're not from Italy, and their parents and grandparents aren't from Italy either.
Sal, this morning, gigantic Italian-American guy, the kind who could smash in your face or mine with one hand and without really trying, after he picked me up on Clinton Street in Brooklyn Heights: "Hey, I had you before! What are the odds! How was uh, Greenland!"
Sal: "Now, what's the weather like there?"
Me: "Well, it's a little nippy, but the great thing is, it really doesn't get dark there; the sun -- "
Sal: "Great to see you again, man. Really, I mean that."
Me: "Yeah, what are the chances? So, it doesn't get dark there -- "
Sal: "They like Americans there?"
Me: "Yeah, I'd say so... Sometimes you get a vibe in some countries where you think they don't like you so much, but yeah, I'd say --"
Sal: "They like Obama?"
Me: "Yes, I think they do."
Sal: "I like Obama." (This was not a given; this could have gone either way.)
Me: "Me too."
Sal: "Hey, great to see you again! I mean that. How long's it take to get there?"
Me: "Five hours. A little less than if you go to London."
Sal: "What airline?"
Me: "Icelandair -- seems to be the only one that goes there from here."
Sal: "You wanna take Centre Street?"
Me: "Yeah, thanks."
Sal: "Yeah. Yeah... So what are the people like in Greenland?"
Me: "It's Iceland; lots of people get them confused. Greenland is the huge country that goes almost all the way up to the north pole; it's almost completely covered in ice. Iceland is much smaller. And they've got more people there in Greenland, but not many -- 320,000 in the whole country."
Sal: "Jeeeeeesus, three-twenty?"
Me: "Yeah -- probably that many live in downtown Manhattan alone, not to mention --"
Sal: "Three-twenty???"
Me: "Uh-huh."
Sal: "They like Americans?"
Me: "I believe they do."
Sal: "How long it take to get there?"
Me: "Five hours."
Sal "...Jeez, I was had something to say; what was I gonna say. Jeez. Hey, great to see you again! I mean that."
Me: "Yeah, what're the --"
Sal: "They like Obama?"
Me: "They do."
Sal: "Expensive there?"
Me: "Yeah, definitely."
Sal: "What they pay for gas there?"
Me: "Like, eight bucks a gallon."
Sal: "Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeezusssssssss, eight bucks a gallon?????? -- Hey, you want Centre Street?"
Me: "Yeah, thanks. -- Yeah, expensive! Then again, I think the whole place is less expensive than it was before their economy crashed; when our economy crashed, back in the fall? Theirs really crashed. They had to --"
Sal: "How's the weather?"
Me: "Well, the sun stays up most of the time in the summer, but it's still a little nippy -- "
Sal: "They like Americans there? They like Obama?"
...And like that for another ten minutes, as Sal bounced us up through Chinatown, SoHo, the Village.
Me: "Perfect, thanks."
Sal: "Hey, great to see you again! I really mean that."
Me: "Alright, you too! next time I'll tell you about..." (Here I was a little stumped; I don't have any upcoming vacations planned.) "...I dunno, India. I think we're going to go there again soon."
Sal: "Okay. Now you take it easy. Please take it easy. I mean that. You look tired."
Me: "K, you have a good day; take care -- "
Sal: "Thank you! I mean that. What're the odds. You take care too. Really. You look tired."
I love living in New York.
