Poignant and heartfelt, I did cry a little.
A cab ride I'll never forget (1999)
41–50 of 174 posts
Re: A cab ride I'll never forget (1999)
#42originally came for hacks and code tricks; stayed for the posts like this that make me actually feel and think. thanks hn.
Re: A cab ride I'll never forget (1999)
#43You may like to read "the invention of curry sausage" by Uwe Timm.
Re: A cab ride I'll never forget (1999)
#44This is probably one of the best things I read on here. Thank you for sharing.
Re: A cab ride I'll never forget (1999)
#45I drove a taxi for about 3.5 years. Mostly it was random people going places. Taxi driving is not the most intellectually stimulating job, so I amused myself by talking to my passengers to figure out if they had anything to teach me. After a few shifts I became aware of a Metaphysical Matching Algorithm, where I was being sent specific passengers for reasons more than just 'transportation'. I'm still in contact with…
Loved the idea of "zombie jesus christ". Ask and you shall receive: https://app.88stacks.com/c/zombie-jesus-christ
Re: A cab ride I'll never forget (1999)
#46Nearly 20 years ago my friend and I returned to his dorm building after a long long night out, only to discover we were locked out. With nothing better to do, we sat outside on the stoop and planned to chat the hours away until 6am when the doors would reopen. Before the dawn came, a man in his 80s almost walked past us. He stopped to ask for directions somewhere, maybe to a church. After our half-hearted attempt at…
I had two fairly magical musical experiences with old guys during my college days.
One happened during my junior year. I lived in a house with two other guys, who were out of town for the night, so I was home alone. I was short on cash so decided to just stay home, and I was playing guitar out on the stoop of my house drinking from a bottle of cheap wine that was left over in the fridge. I was pretty delighted when two drunk guys threw a fiver on my porch as they passed by - I was definitely not playing to any level that deserved money, but it felt pretty awesome.
An older hippie looking guy came stumbling down the walk. He stopped and asked me if he could play something on my guitar. I was immediately nervous that the guy might run off with the guitar, but I hesitantly handed it over to him, and he strummed out a song which I had never heard before (Bob Dylan's She Belongs to Me). He was no rock star - his chord changes were sloppy, his voice was raspy and maybe a little off key. But he shared a wonderful song that I love to this day, then thanked me for letting him play and continued on his way. What a cool little moment, to meet this random stranger and be able to share that music.
The other moment was even more strange and magical, and happened about a year before. A buddy and I had been holed up in the house watching TV and smoking pot for a while, and we stepped out onto the stoop to have a cigarette. It was a beautiful spring afternoon, and we were just chatting, goofing around with accents and silly jokes, enjoying the fresh air and the leftovers of our weed high. All of sudden we heard this strange, ethereal music coming from down the street, and went silent as we strained to hear the sound. From the street corner emerged a man in a forest green suit, with a long white beard, carrying some sort of harp, and playing it beautifully as he walked by. The guy didn't acknowledge us in any way, and we were far too shocked to think of anything to say as he passed. We watched him walk away, still playing this almost angelic music, and the music faded as he got out of hearing distance. My friend and I stood there in stunned silence, until one of us asked, unbelievingly "did you see that too?" I never saw this guy on campus again after that day, but my friend and I still joke about the time we saw an actual wizard on campus. If I hadn't had a friend with me, I'm not sure I would believe that it was real, I'd chalk it up to some vivid dream or hallucination or something. But again, what a magical thing to have happen.
Re: A cab ride I'll never forget (1999)
#47End of life is terrifying... Especially the idea of facing it alone, with all your friends and family long gone (or, worse yet, having been abandoned), is heartbreaking.
Prepare for it now and everyday. Maybe it won’t be as terrifying when it comes.
We have to reckon with the fact that even surrounded by friends and family, at the moment our life finally ends we are alone inside our own mind. Even if it is scary, we can take solace in the fact that it is a fleeting moment.
Buddhism helps us learn healthy detachment. This can be detachment from things, people and even ourselves; the healthy part being the balance that still allows us to appreciate and love them, even knowing one day we must lose them. Pushing those things away to protect ourselves from the pain of loss is unhealthy. Remember the middle way.
In The Book of Joy the Dalai Lama states that he approaches meditation as a preparation to die well. I don’t know if that’s what you meant by “prepare for it every day” but what you said reminded me of all this.
Re: A cab ride I'll never forget (1999)
#48> it was possible to believe that I had been placed on earth for the sole purpose of providing her with that last ride. I suspect that a lot of people have a "heroism gene". In situations in which they're doing something selfless, and nothing matters other than helping the person before them who really needs it, there's an implicit "this is my purpose" or "this is what we do". I've wondered where that comes from, nat…
I have also come to believe this. It's something that emerges in the moment - the moment of crisis, or the moment of need. You don't see it day-to-day, usually.
I suspect it's over-represented in populations like nurses and firefighters. It's sometimes easier to see who doesn't have it - the people who "stay out of it" - those bystander effect exemplars who nonetheless remain nearby recording on their phones.
Re: A cab ride I'll never forget (1999)
#49Nearly 20 years ago my friend and I returned to his dorm building after a long long night out, only to discover we were locked out. With nothing better to do, we sat outside on the stoop and planned to chat the hours away until 6am when the doors would reopen. Before the dawn came, a man in his 80s almost walked past us. He stopped to ask for directions somewhere, maybe to a church. After our half-hearted attempt at…
I had two fairly magical musical experiences with old guys during my college days. One happened during my junior year. I lived in a house with two other guys, who were out of town for the night, so I was home alone. I was short on cash so decided to just stay home, and I was playing guitar out on the stoop of my house drinking from a bottle of cheap wine that was left over in the fridge. I was pretty delighted when t…
Lesson: People should hang out on stoops more often.
Re: A cab ride I'll never forget (1999)
#50I drove cabs PT in college. Usually the night shift on weekdays, which none of the FT drivers liked because demand was light.
One night, I got a call to a suburban address, a little white Cape-style house. It was a guy in his 30s, glasses and a mustache. He seemed a little anxious, and explained that he was visiting his mother at the hospital - St. Elizabeths in Boston. Something serious. It was just him and his mom living in the little Cape.
About a month later, the dispatcher sent me to the same address, again at night. It was him. His mother had died and he was absolutely shattered. Utter despair as I had never witnessed close up in my young life. I can't remember where he wanted to go. Honestly, I think he just wanted someone to talk with. And I did, as best I could.