Correction and World Aids Day

The gay customer I talked about yesterday called me and explained to me that he is from the South... South Bronx, that is, not Brooklyn. Amazing, didn't think males from the Bronx wore "heels" and "bags." Guess that's why they migrate out of there.

World Aids Day is tomorrow, December 1st. And a ceremony will be held in Golden Gate Park at the Grove between 11:30 and 1:30.

Cab driving day

Out the Gates I go in my Yellow machine.

Remember "The Pulse of the City"? It's 4:00am and I'm leaving to go get my regular client in Noe Vally and take him downtown to work. What a character. Moved here from Brooklyn several years ago. He's a great guy! More about him in the future.

Head up Market street lookng for Flags. Get the Red Light at 6th. Amazing all the late night life still out there simply hanging out. Some of course, seeking Crack. Off we go on the Green. Don't want to hang out in this area (Tenderlion) too long. Got to Church and Market where I catch a Flag. Young man not going too far. But a ride is a ride regardless of the amount. Afterall, that's dollars I didn't have before. Anyhow, he asks me if I smoke weed. No. He said he had extra to share. Well that was a "Red Flag". Cause when I got to the location he wanted, he said he would be right back. Had to go inside and get the money. That he would leave the weed till he came back. Of course, you guessed right...he never came back. But, I already knew that. Weed anyone?

Passed by Fillmore and Haight (Another Crack corner) watching the sellers look at me as if I was looking to score for a customer. Not this go around fellas. Back into the Castro seeing if I can catch an Airport. Bingo, got one from an address that came thur the cab computer. Came back from SFO thru the Sunset seeking another trip to SFO. Or finding flags when Muni is down. Traffic staring to pick-up. Seeing more people getting to work. Daylight is coming up. City starting to come alive. Of course, traffic as well. Caught a ride downtown. then back out to Pacific Heights to seek out more poeple neding a cab to work or those who don't want to wait on Muni. As the morning moves along, traffic getting heavier. Business brisky! This will be a good day.

Time to go get another regular. This one is beyond interesting. Has Aids. But a remarkable long-term survivor. Came to SF from Brooklyn years ago. Worked as a bartender in one of the City's Hottest Gay Bar. Then he took a detour with Drugs. And joined the underworld of deceitful survival. And then a five year break as a guest of the Governement. Upon returning to society he made a beyond remarkable turn around of his life. For all this...I totally have fond respect for him.

A little more than self confident and thinks highly of himself. Thinks he is a gift to other men. Nothing wrong with that. Anyhow, he gets in the Cab and proceeds to tell me about an Actor from NY who was in Sf preforming. And the actor came to his table and immediatley started "hitting" on him. And he asks my customer about his Italian Sausage. And that he would like to take him home to fulfill all his pleasures. And the conversation continues. Little too raunchy to put into print. Dropped him off at SF General Hospital.

Then dropped over the hill to turn in the Cab. See you ina few days. Back to the Lmousine. Oh, have another interesting Client to tell you about .............

Day after Thanksgiving

Had a fabulous Thanksgiving at my daughter's house in Las Vegas, and I really enjoyed spending time with my Grandson.

6:45 am: Started out today with my Limousine picking up a customer at Nob Hill. He was on his way to NY for a week to see friends and visit several museums, and take in several Broadway Shows... then onto Singapore where he has a home... then on to New Zealand to his farm. Ultimately ending up in Jakarta, Indonesia, where he will spend the Holidays with his lifestyle partner. Jakarta is their official home and location of their business.

Took me quite a long time to figure out that these two were more than business partners. Regardless, they both are outstanding customers. They use me continually when they are in town for errands and dining events. And to such places as the hills in Mill Valley and to the town of Hillsborough.

Will be chating about these two unusual individuals and their friends/slash/business associates in the future.

11:00am: Picked up another customer, his wife and two daughters at SFO. Wow, they looked exhausted. Guess traveling for the holidays with two small children can take the toll on one's self. He is a research scientist at one of the major Universities here in SF. His wife is a medical doctor in SF. Both have been customers of mine for the past six years. Will be seeing him again on the 6th December.

That's it for the day. Only two Clients. However, tomorrow I'll be fairly busy.

In the meantime, a suggestion was made by my web designer that I could use a Editor. You know what.........she is correct. Amazing how I got thru English in High School and USF. Might be hiring her to assist me in grammar and sentence structure. Any thoughts?

See you soon..................Jon

Where to start on Day 1

Have had a day-off today. No clients. Prepared for my trip to Las Vegas tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day, to spend with my daughter, son-in-law and my Grandson. I'm like a little child... I get so excited to see my family. Unfortunately, my son, who lives and works in Hong Kong will be unable to join us, although he'll be with us in spirit.

Now is the time to say "Thank-you" to three wonderful people who are largely responsible for this Blog. One person is a Client who pressed me about 10 years ago to write a book entitled "The Pulse of the City," incorporating those Cab Stories we are going to embark upon in the near future. Another Client, one that I consider my Mentor, although he talks techno well over my head, enticed me enough to research the details of what he was talking about, which was putting up a "blog". Through our conversations every Monday and Thursday this site came to being. And finally, my fun-loving web designer of www.prestigeride.com came into play. Knowing nothing about the world of blogs, she figured a way to set one up for me. Fabulous work !!

My personal tribute to all of you!!

Oh, I did have a relatively new client call me to schedule appointments for next week. I suggested he e-mail me with all the dates and details. As you can imagine, it is impossible to drive and write down all that information. And so he did. When I got home I received his e-mail with the information needed to take care of his travel plans to and from SFO. Of course, private drivers are generally the last person people think of when they travel. We are then expected to meet their needs as though we have no other clients. And so we do, always making the client feel important as we meet their needs.

Something else needs to be explained. After driving a cab for all those years, I decided to develop my own business. You guessed right... the infamous Limousine Business. So I converted my taxicab customers over to the Limousine business, which you will hear more about on an ongoing basis. I still drive my Cab a few days a week just to keep my "fingers" in the business and to have a mental cushion (revenue insurance) should something happen unexpected in the other business. So I will draw my stories from both. Both of these transportation ventures will provide "juicy" and "dicey" stories as well as human interest stories.

Will be back on Friday. Have two Clients to take from SF to SFO. And the other from SFO to SF. My client, traveling on Friday, lives on Nob Hill and in Indonesia and is truly an interesting individual. Will go into details about him on Friday.

Have a FUN Thanksgiving!!

Jon

Backseat Banter Nov 2005

Hi, I'm Jon and I have been a cab and limousine driver in the San Francisco Bay Area for over twenty years.

Do I have stories to tell you? You bet I do.

In case you've been a client of mine, don't worry, your name will be kept anonymous -- but your story won't! Thanks to all my riders for providing me with tales to be told.