Daily Grumble

This week New York City did another 24-hour crackdown on using cell phones while driving, issuing over 7000 tickets in one day, more than ten times the daily average, netting the city about $1M in fines. The tickets are $120 each, but $200 for cab drivers. The funny thing about this ticket blitz is that every New Yorker knows that 100% of cabbies are on the phone 100% of the time. Many times I’ve thought the driver had a question about our destination, only to be curtly told, “I was not speaking to YOU, sir!” I should totally be fluent in Arabic and Hindi, just from all the one-sided conversations I’ve had to sit through. On the upside, it’s been years since I screamed out in terror from their Death Race 2000 driving. That, I’ve gotten used to. But I’m still not bold enough to tell them to get off the goddamn phone.