NYC laughs At ~ 0400 I stepped out of the hotel onto W35th and turned left toward 8th ave where I saw a line of cabs and one black limo. Three guys were standing toward the front of the first cab and I walked toward them. The men were a mix of S. African, Middle Eastern, and European. One middle eastern man looked like he walked out of a magazine ad for vacations in the desert. Of all the men, I understood one. Sorta Me - Hi!, I would like to go to La Guardia airport. At that point the man who looked like he stepped out of the magazine rushed forward and grabbed my luggage (thankfully he didnt grab my laptop or camera bag or there would have been a battle from me :p). He proceeded to walk toward his car which wasnt at the front of the line but the back of the line. The man from South Africa began yelling at him (not sure what he said but I am sure he didnt say may blessings follow you on your trip). As he was yelling at the man, he grabbed my luggage and they began to wrestle for it. While I stood there and took this in, the other middle eastern man rushed over and started his part of the tug o war using my bag as the rope. The European man stood and watched. He stated - for $45 cash, I will take you to the airport. Cash - do we use cash anymore? The three men continued their struggle with my bag and yelling at each other. (I looked around thinking was this a live feed for YOUtube or something?) I reached over and attempted to take hold of my bag when I realized they started to struggle and hold it from me. (Good night - is this something from Saturday Night Live? No, it isnt Saturday Night>) The S. African Man reminded me of Eddie Murphy. I stated - I will take my bag and walk across the street and find someone on that side of 8th avenue to take me to the airport. No! No! (in mixed accents) - I will take you! - Again, am I on a tv show? Maybe this is something for the Tonight show filming in the morning? Finally, I wrestled my bag from the hands of three men who are much larger than me and had fire in their eyes - (Not toward me but toward each other.) Brotherly love I walked toward the front of the line and the man in the black limo stated again - $45 in cash and I will take you to the airport - cash - I dont carry that much cash - thinking why would I carry that much cash walking the streets ? Finally, the three other men resolved their conflict and I got in the first cab thinking, am I driving off toward the end. As were heading toward the airport, I took out my iPhone and opened maps.google hoping to verify we were going toward LGA. Imagine my horror when it stated 45 min (after we were driving 20 min) until LGA. Then I realized I had it in pedestrian mode from my nightly walks around the city. :D A few minutes later, I was walking toward the USAirways counter. :D Oh - thankfully, I use the hardback luggage :D - the luggage wasnt harmed.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 19:35:23 +0000
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