Are taxi cab drivers evil? You be the judge.

First, this event happened several days ago, on Nov. 23rd to be exact. The reason why I waited this long to post this rant is because I had a million other things going through my mind and I wanted to get them out of the way. Now, I've got time to address other things that are less hot-button or do not require as immediate a response as, say, the basketbrawl issue because of timeliness issues.

Okay, so I am driving my wife to work in San Francisco's Financial District and I'm passing through Union Square. This is during commute hours when it's busy and the streets tend to be crowded with pedestrians and cars. For anybody who has ever driven through San Francisco's downtown and around Union Square, you'll know what I am talking about. As I am nearing Market Street, this Yellow Cab Co-op driver stops ahead of me. While that itself is no big deal, what he does do next is.

I'm on O'Farrell Street, which is only TWO LANES wide, and there is a MUNI bus in the right lane. I've got cars behind me because they're making turns from Stockton and some just made the light behind me. Well, s**t-for-brains decides that he's more important than everybody else in the world and just PARKS THERE and proceeds to get out of his cab. I honk at him because: 1) I am trying to get my wife to work on time, 2) There is no other place for me to go or to get around him because of the narrow street, 3) There STILL IS a MUNI bus in the right lane, so I'm blocked in, and 4) There's more cars waiting behind me for the traffic to move.

Okay, so Mr. Important gets out of his cab and flips me off. Wrong thing to do. This makes me very angry and I yell at him to pull his cab over to the curb instead of blocking traffic. You see, this is a block where there is a Macy's store and the curb in front of the store is WIDE OPEN WITH NO CARS PARKED THERE and it's a white zone. He continues to flip me off while walking to the entrance to the store. I assume he is looking for his fare. Regardless, I'm pissed. Who the hell does he think he is? And, what ever happened to using common sense and courtesy?

Mr. Hotshot cab driver continues to give me the finger walking back to his cab. After getting into his cab, he's still sitting there, so I honk again. He flips me off through his driver's side window. Then, he peels off in a hurry, still giving me the finger. As I start moving again (the traffic in the right lane already moved, but I couldn't merge because they wouldn't let me in and I'm now too engrossed with this jerk in front of me), he is STILL holding out his hand, giving me the bird. The last I see of him as he makes a left turn ON A RED LIGHT is of him STILL giving me the bird.

In all, very stupid. Not only did he show a complete and utter lack of regard for anybody else but himself, but he THINKS he's actually in the right and proceeds to show how blissfully WRONG he is. Plus, he pissed off the wrong person. I already noted his cab number and called the cab company and filed a complaint.

Not only did I give them the complete details of the incident, the time and whatnot, I even give them a physical description of the driver. The manager unwittingly mentioned his name, effectively selling him down the river (to me). But, I'm not going to crucify him online as that would serve no purpose. However, from the manager's tone, I could tell that he's in trouble now. I hope they give it to him good when he has to go to the manager's office when he gets off shift.

The whole point of this treatise is that - taxi cab drivers are already notorious for their driving habits, but has anybody ever noted how they comport themselves? This one clearly is antisocial, judging from his behavior - and I don't even know the guy! Also, by putting himself above others, that further shows how little he thinks of others. This sort of self-centered thinking and behavior is what is becoming a pandemic in this nation. It's no wonder there is so much anger nowadays. Bad drivers contribute to bad attitudes and bad feelings all around.

No turn signals, cutting across multiple lanes at the last minute to make that exit, weaving in and out of traffic, tailgating, it's everywhere. Although it may be nothing new, it doesn't mean that we have to accept it. If somebody is clearly in the wrong, we should not be afraid to let them know about it (unless you're dealing with a gang-banger or a crazed person waving their gun out the window, I wouldn't). We should not have to be forced to accept substandard behavior all because "lots of other people do it." If they were to use that lame reason with me, I'd probably ask them, "So, if you're acting stupid and selfish, I should act that way, too?"