Look, I'm not one to normally complain about the weather. In fact, I'm not doing it now; I just wonder if this is the longest winter in history. (Excepting Michigan winters in the 1970s....)
I actually prefer the cool weather. What is that, you say? "Freak"? Well, so be it. It just has always seemed to me that it's easier to warm up then it is to cool down when the heat is oppressive. Also, there is the element of fashion that comes into play. Precious few people look good in summer-wear. It's true. These few - we'll call them the Ford Models Division of the population - can actually pull off a belly shirt, which is ironically named since to wear one, one must've have a belly. When it's winter (or, in our case, spring but still freezing out side), who cares? You can dress in layers and even wear a silly hat without the Nigerian cab driver asking you for your phone number. (Come to think of it, though, coats, scarves and obnoxious hats didn't dissuade a driver or two in asking for my number last year.)
I'm always amazed at the gall of some cabbies. There I am, trapped, as we fly down Lake Shore Drive while he asks me, Am I married? Why not? Any children? Why not? And, lastly, Do you live alone? That last question sends the chills. I usually ask to be dropped off a couple of blocks away from my apartment. But maybe it's just sheer boredom when they ask. Or maybe they think they got more game than Bob Barker. Who knows? I just hate being on the receiving end of it.
This is why I wear my headphones. Remember the episode of Seinfeld where Elaine pretended to be deaf in order to avoid conversation with the boring, nosy driver? Close. Very close. I just keep my headphones on - Jack Murphy and company playing daft punk loudly in my ears - I watch as the cabby mouths something to me.....Something....But I can't make it out.
Till we meet again,
X.
