Date Taken: 5/16/07
From: Lincoln Park
To: Wicker Park
The Cab: Why do so many cabs use that same perfumey air freshener that certainly doesn’t refresh? I’d rather have my cabs smell like repair garages, or even like working men. An ordinary interior beyond that, though this was one of those cabs with that weird coil-y thing snaking from the front dash to the back dividing window. What, are they pumping that odor directly into the backseat to improve efficiency and speed up the nausea to come?
The Driver: He drives in silence. He is a phantom, sometimes disappearing from the cab altogether. He is a silent, phantom driver. If you observe him, he does not exist. I’m in Schrödinger’s cab.
The Driving: A little rough, but within one standard deviation of the norm. But what is that sloshing sound? Am I crazy or is something sloshing under the backseat? Wait for it . . . yes, there it is again! It doesn’t appear to be coming from the trunk. It’s not beneath me or the driver. It’s beneath the backseat behind the driver. And there is a slight whirring. This cab is sloshing and whirring! Does Driver #1889 know the cab is sloshing and whirring? This cab is giving me the creeps.
Overall Rating: 2 extended arms.
– Steve Rhodes
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There are more than 6,000 cabs in the city of Chicago. We intend to review every one of them.
Posted on May 23, 2007