they would lose their license.

The cabs just fly by if they don't want to pull over.

Edit: Luke is in DC - not sure how cabs operate there.

This appeared two months ago.

http://www.wusa9.com/investigation/article/241642/455/Undercover-Probe-25-Of-Taxis-Strand-Black-Riders

anything like that. I guess I'll have count to ten before I call him fuck head in the future.

...I was downtown (Chicago) with my dad. This would be about 42 years ago.

It was pouring rain, torrential rain. We ran out to the street to catch a cab, neither of us had an umbrella. Standing on the curb was an older mid-50ish black woman with an umbrella (if you've ever been in Chicago during a thunderstorm you know how useful that is). She was there way before us and I had noticed her trying to wave down a cab. Because of my age, I figured they just didn't see her. I still remember what she was wearing. Probably because she looked like a darker version of my own grandmother (my dad's mom).

As soon as we got to the curb, my dad raised his hand and within a few seconds a cab pulled up in front of us...passing the woman. My dad, drenched in his expensive suit and shoes, holding his daughter's hand...reached out and opened the door. Then, he yelled to the woman, "This one is yours!" She stared for a few seconds, I believe her mouth was hanging open. Then she jogged over and got in the cab, thanking him over and over. He just said, "yeah, yeah...get in."

I didn't understand then. I just remember the look on his face. It was a combination of heartbreak and disgust. I figured it out later.

Thank you for sharing it.

He was a lousy dad, but he had compassion for strangers. In that way, yes, he was a gem.

in NYC. Held the door opened until the woman who was there before me on that corner got into the cab.

And what did the cab driver's actions even accomplish? A woman was unnecessarily insulted, inconvenienced and perhaps hurt. I was ticked off. And the driver was probably stewing in the anger of his own bias (and lost a tip.) All that negativity for a freaking.cab.ride.

I sometimes wonder if the denial of the ordinary benefits / pleasures of life to some groups of people is just as insidious over time as blatant racism / bigotry.