Riding in cars with cab drivers

In a way, I feel bad for cab drivers, because it must be hard for them to know how to drive for each customer.

My cab ride home tonight was the type of ride I hate. It was the kind where the driver does 50 MPH on streets where the speed limit is 35. Where they speed into the intersection, slow down when they've already hit the middle of it, and then speed up again. That is not the "South Philly slide." The South Philly slide requires that you slow down before the intersection, so that the oncoming traffic won't, ya know, kill me. It was the type of cab ride that makes me terrified for my life, and really not want to tip all that much.

I have been in three car accidents in my life, all of which I have been a passenger for. Since the first two (the most recent one was a non-serious fender-bender) I have become scared of being in cars that I'm not in control of. For the first few weeks after the second accident I couldn't even be in the car with my mother driving without gripping the seat in terror and freaking out at every car that appeared in the intersection.

The first accident happened when I was being driven home by a girl from the suburbs, so she didn't realize that every intersection in the city either has a stop light or a stop sign. A truck was parked illegally on one corner, blocking her view of the stop sign, so she plowed into the intersection and t-boned a car driven by a 17-year old kid, spinning it around a few times. It became a virtual pinball, knocking into a parked car, bouncing off of that into another, and then finally hitting a fence.

The second accident, the one that left me in tears (perhaps because I am selfish since I didn't cry over the accident that almost killed a minor), almost killed me. My friend had the right of way and was making a legal turn at an intersection, only to be t-boned (fate's revenge?). I got the brunt of the other car's impact, the metal and airbag colliding into my arm, as the car spun around more times than I could count. All I could hear was my friends' screaming, and the tiny voice in my head going "wow. That's how I go?" I walked away from that crash unable to lift my arm for a month.

The reason I feel bad for cab drivers is because how are they supposed to know that every time they drive fast they activate horrifying memories for me and lose a tip. My best friend hates being in cabs where they drive below the speed limit. She feels that the driver is only going slow to rack up the meter and make her pay more. Perhaps this is partially true, because I've certainly had some cab drivers obviously try to screw me in the past*, but when she's in the cab, if the driver makes a full stop at every stop sign, he loses a tip.

I suppose the only way for a cab driver to ensure he's doing the right thing is by actually following the traffic laws, and not go too fast or too slow. But this is Philadelphia. Driving correctly will probably cause an accident.

*My personal favorite was when the cab driver assumed I was too drunk to do basic math, and when I paid for a 7 dollar cab ride with a 20 tried to give me back a 5.

You, sir, are a liar, and I have science to prove it.

This has nothing to do with Philadelphia, and everything to do with Denver.

Fark.com linked me to this article from the Denver post, about a claw game using live lobsters. Basically the lobsters are in their tank, you insert $2, and try to win a lobster the way you would try to win a stuffed animal at a carnival. PETA, obviously, is a little peeved about this.

I have no opinion on the claw machine itself. What I do have an opinion on is bad journalism.

The author of the article says "Lobsters, however, are not vegetarians. "Lobsters' favorite food is lobster," said Pappas."

This is pretty much a lie. What bothers me most about it being a lie, is that I read that statement, thought "that doesn't sound right," and then spent all of five minutes researching it before finding a credible website to prove him wrong.

Marinebio.org says here that lobsters only eat each other when in captivity. I.E. Lobsters will only resort to cannibalism when humans capture and starve them.

Somehow I don't think that "well, lobsters eat each other...because of people like me..." should be this guy's main argument.

More importantly, why does Al Lewis have a job in journalism, and I don't?

Side note:

On a related note to me being drunk last night, Wendy's promise that it will stay open till 1 a.m. is misleading and slightly annoying. When you read that statement you would think "oh, ok, so I have till 1 a.m. to get there until they lock the door." Wrong. You have till 12:30 a.m. to get there. And you better eat fast, because they'll kick you out at 12:45.

Last night I ate on top of a City Paper news box. It was a new experience for me.

I am an understanding person. When they told me to leave, I left without a fuss, because hell it's 12:45 in the morning and they wanted to get home. I just wish if they were planning on locking the door at 12:30 (we were the very last people to get in, they literally locked the door behind us), Wendy's would advertise that so people would know to leave their bars and get to Wendy's quicker, and not think they had extra time. There were about five people who tried to get inside after us last night. Two of which actually looked at their watch after trying the door.

I should note that I'm ranting about this not because it happened to me last night, but because its happened to me at least four different times now, at two different Wendy's locations in the city. Don't advertise about how awesome you are for staying open till 1 a.m., if you won't actually do it.

Covers and porn stars

I absolutely refuse to pay a cover to get into a bar. There's no way I will pay $5 or $10 for the privilege of being able to buy overcharged alcohol. If a bar does cover, its usually a sign that that's not the place for me anyway. Bars with covers tend to be bars for the frat boys and the rich kids who roll in from the suburbs every weekend. Bars like the now closed Tiki Bob's or McFadden's are prime examples of this: bars that cover and suck. (Though, the last time I went to McFadden's a hot Asian bartender poured a free shot of rum into my mouth. Even as a straight woman I still couldn't complain about that too much.)

There are notable exceptions to my "No covers ever" rule. Bars with musical acts where the cover goes to pay the band are fine. Chris' Jazz Cafe usually always has a $2-5 dollar cover, but that money goes to the Jazz bands they have playing every night. This to me is a worthy cover.

And of course, then there are covers like the one at The Kyber. $10 to enter, and then all well drinks and domestic beer is free until 2 a.m. or you pass out.

I am spoiled, I suppose. Last night I dropped by one of my favorite bars, The Raven. Apparently we had stumbled upon a party for some porn website, so there was a $10 cover. My friend the bouncer (forced to wear a suit for the occasion. I suppose to fit in with the half naked women wandering around) opened the door for me and my drinking buddy, and directed us past the guy taking money. I'll admit, I felt pretty cool.

The night was sponsored by this new vodka drink, which is infused with energy drink stuff to give it an extra kick. The free shots we got that were mixed with it tasted nice enough, but mixing liquor and energy drinks always seemed like a bad idea to me.

First post.

I have made this journal to detail the life of a Philadelphian 20-something alcoholic. Hopefully you find something useful here.