Halloween

Lots of entertaining rides on Halloween night. It was busy, but not too crazy.

SEAL hunt

I picked up four women who are in San Diego for a business conference. They wanted to know where they can meet Navy SEALS. This is not an uncommon request. I brought them out to Coronado Island to show them the Naval Amphibious Base, where they train. Then I brought them to McP's Irish Pub, where they drink. Before they got out of the cab they were examining each other's hair and making sure they look good. I think their families back home would be surprised at their evening entertainment.

Tulsa

I drove a young couple, just married, from Tulsa, Okla. They were marveling at real estate costs in San Diego, after having paid $89,000 for a 2,000 sq. ft. house in Tulsa. That, and another $300k gets you a similar house in San Diego, with a much smaller yard. The newleyweds were in San Diego primarily to visit Ikea, which they apparently don't have in Tulsa.

Interesting Halloween costume

A couple of hours after dark, when the Halloween partying was in full swing, I picked up a man, maybe 25, wearing a casual suit and sunglasses. He also had a large, red gift box with a bow on top.

"Take me somewhere I can buy a dildo," he said.

I brought him to the Hustler store downtown, and en route he explained that he is dressed up as Dick in a Box, which he said is a famous SNL bit. I had never heard of it. After sitting anxiously in a red zone, beside a fire hydrant, I saw him come out of Hustler with a large bulge inside of his coat. When he got in the cab he pulled out a mammoth, lifelike dildo.

Me: Whoa! I didn't know you were going to get such a big one.

Him: It's a Ron Jeremy. I'm sparing no expense this Halloween.

Stereotypical cab driver

Around 1 a.m. I was sitting with a few other drivers on a stand, across the street from a bar, when a man and woman came walking towards the cabs. The first guy in line was sitting in his car, and the rest of us were standing near his driver window.

Guy: Are you available?

Our driver: No, I'm sitting here for my goddamn health!

Guy: What?

Our driver: No, I'm sitting here for my goddam health!

The customers looked at those of us who were standing around, and we just shrugged. They got in and they left.

That driver gets several refusals from locals every night. We found out why. We'll hear a driver get on the radio and say: "I picked up a flag at XYZ going to XYZ." Dispatch will respond: "Isn't driver ABC there with you? He should be first in line." The driver will say: "He took one look at ABC and said he's not riding with him."