My regular taxicab driver had some fun stories from the RNC. Business has been off, and he and I haven't connected since just before the RNC. Some fun stories below...
Here were my favorite Republican stories:
- He had a couple in the car, and Joe Lieberman (is it a sin that I every time I hear his name I recall the Loserman taunt?) was giving his speech. The husband was becoming agitated in the back seat. Just as his wife asked the driver to change the station, the husband became so enraged he punched the passenger side rear window out of the cab with his fist. He felt so bad he paid for the window, and paid the driver $500 for the time he was going to lose getting the cab fixed.
- Republicans are poor tippers. All of them. The worst was the group that asked the driver to stay with them for multiple trips. They went all over town, and he even turned off the meter when he waited for them, for up to 20 minutes, while they were inside some of their destinations. When they finally ended up at Mortons (a very expensive steak-house), not only did they not leave a tip, they tried to negotiate the fare down!
- Republicans' credit cards bounce. Several times.
He also asked if my wife and I made it to the protests. I had told him that we were either leaving town during the RNC, or if we were in town, we would be protesting. We protested. While much has been said about that experience, enough hasn't been. We must never forget what was done to us all by the jack-booted thugs in Saint Paul. Our elected representatives, the Mayor and City Council, gave away control of our city, and for a few rotten days, our city ceased to be a democracy and turned into a rotten little police state.
Finally, Al Franken, for the record, does not ride a limo or Town Car from the airport to his house. He takes a taxi just like the rest of us. He rode with my driver last week when he came back from DC. Reportedly, Al's in good spirits, so don't worry about him.
One last unrelated travel gripe. If Delta's going to be our hometown airline (which, unfortunately, they are - leave it to Northwest to manage to sell themselves to the one airline that was actually worse - they need to learn that, upon landing, you do NOT welcome people to Minneapolis. The correct phrase is, "Welcome to Minneapolis and Saint Paul," or we will also accept, "Welcome to the Twin Cities."
Happy Saint Patrick's Day from Minnesota's Irish Capital.