OT - Having a cabbie run after you with a wrench...

aqua_tek · Post by **aqua_tek** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 4:52 am

... for about half a block before he came to his senses, is quite an experience. And quite a nice little short burst of a workout at 4 am.

So we were at this little party in Chinatown, and as it ends we try and grab a cab. We are a group of 5. I ride shotgun. The cabbie, who apparently hasn't had a great night and isn't very happy about taking us to Brooklyn, starts yelling at us and saying that one of us needs to "get the fuck out of the cab. ONLY 4! ONLY 4! YOU GET THE FUCK OUT!" while pointing his finger at me. I ask him to calm down and that I would happily take the next cab if he stopped being such a rude dick. He gets more irritated and starts yelling stuff in Indian, then says something like "oh its annoying enough having to take you people to brooklyn, asshole, now dont get me in trouble and get the fuck out the cab! take next one!"

"Wow dude you're real dick. Don't even know why you're so worried we'll get you in trouble. That fucking mouth is enough. We're all getting out. We'd rather not ride with you anyways"

We get out of the cab, and I slam the door as we walk away to wait for some other cab to drive by. Then the guy starts yelling again. "ASSHHOLE WHY YOU SLAM DOOR?! you don't slam my door! you don't do that!"

"after your rudeness i'm afraid i dont owe you any courtesy buddy. just drive away"

So the guy goes psycho. "You don't slam door! You don't slam door!"

"Just let it go man, the door is fine! Drive away and leave us the fuck alone"

"I'll fuck you up boy!"

We have no idea what's going on, but it's pretty funny so we start laughing. "Just drive the fuck away man. Have a good night"

"Oh its funny? You think its funny? I'll show you funny!" Dude pops the trunk, and grabs a big, nasty wrench. Then starts running after us. We just scatter in all directions and he keeps running after me for about half a block until he realizes he's acting all crazy, then does an about-face, returns to his cab, peels out and disappears.

Ahhhh, new york.

liveISlife · Post by **liveISlife** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 4:58 am

AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH!

did anyone get to film any of this?

funky shit · Post by **funky shit** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 5:12 am

Homebelly · Post by **Homebelly** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 5:21 am

Ahh.. new york cab stories..
i have a couple.. but my subway stories are way better..
see how this thread pans out and i might share one or two.

i will say this..
way back in the early 90's me and my buddy used to go up to harlem after work to one of a couple of the hip hop clubs. no big deal till it was home time, then we would bail out and then have to walk down town till we start seeing cabs, at that point my guy, being AA and all, would hide in a door way and i, being white and all, would hail a cab,, i would then open the back door but then lean in the front window to ask the driver if he had change for a fifty or some other lame shit, then my buddy would jump out of the door way and into the back of the cab,, this would usually set of a torrent of racist diatribe from the driver,, including some of the black ones,, i would then jump in the back and have to diffuse the situation usually by writing down badge numbers and so on,,, next would come the biracial torrent of abuse when we told the guy we where going to brooklyn,,, the whole thing became even more bizarre and abstract when we wanted to go out of state and party over in newark..
ahh.. good times

forge · Post by **forge** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 6:37 am

You are clearly a bad man and this is your karma catching up with you.

longlivelavey · Post by **longlivelavey** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 8:20 am

That reminds me of when I used to work at a 7-11 convenience store in San Diego, California. I'd work until 3:00 A.M. on Saturday nights with this guy from India, who used to drive truckloads of concrete through Iraq during Saddam's reign. This crazy bastard used to smoke crack in the bathroom at work, keep his family in line by physically beating them, and chase after foolish customers with a squeegee if they gave him any grief. He was nice to his coworkers though.

"You said it, man. Nobody f*cks with The Vishnu!"

dm_hawk · Post by **dm_hawk** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 1:16 pm

hang out in nyc long enough, and pretty much everyone has an experience like that.

i've seen a lot more action in the subway cars, though. 3 or 4 times now, in the past 10 years...it usually starts when someone who is mentally ill (or loaded?) begins talking to him/herself about some crazy/aggro/paranoid shit, then begins including others in the conversation. the monologue picks up steam and progresses to yelling as others in the car become more quiet and cautious, then mr./ms. aggro self-talker starts having outbursts of physical violence. i've never seen anything go beyond a slap, shove, or punch, though, as people always cleared out as soon as things got physical.

after witnessing one of these episodes, i asked a cop in the subway what one can do in such a situation, when the police are nowhere around. he said that if the perp were actually harming someone, the most that others could do is forcibly restrain, but not injure, him/her.

it's scary, especially thinking about my loved ones in the city who may not be very adept at defending themselves. also frightening is the prospect of being in a situation in which mr./ms. aggro self-talker has a weapon and is causing serious injury/death to an innocent bystander while people just stand by and watch for fear of getting themselves hurt. new yorkers seem very devoted to non-engagement and self-preservation, and i wouldn't trust them/us to intervene in such a situation.

there's something about nyc that can reduce people to animal behavior. i don't know if it's the lack of private space or what.

Hidden Driveways · Post by **Hidden Driveways** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 2:27 pm

I've been in the city for over 9 years. I've never encountered a cabbie who's been overly unreasonable with me.

I see people all the time being totally unreasonable with drivers. It's usually drunk people on the weekends in the East Village. The cabbies have a pretty horrible job, then they get to the weekend and drunk douche bags give them a hard time. It's one of my least favorite things about the city. Drunken entitlement to be pricks toward hard working people.

UKRuss · Post by **UKRuss** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 2:30 pm

**puts on: Arctic Monkeys - Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secure**

Patch · Post by **Patch** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 2:41 pm

5 drunks piled into a 4 seater cab? Asking for trouble...

arafel · Post by **arafel** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 2:42 pm

Sounds like the perfect Nightcap to a great night!

Nothing better than a trippy cab/ subway/ drive back home. The adventure only stops when you go to sleep!

I was once steaming along on a new mountain bike downtown, saw two cabs slowly inching together to have chat or something (drivers side to others passenger side). As space between vehicles got smaller and smaller I thought I could make it between them (all quicksilver styleee). No Dice. Caught both cabs with my handlebars, and perfectly wedged the handlebars between the cabs panels. Bike stops dead and flips over... I',m on my ass but up in a flash to wrench that bike out (scraping the paint jobs even more) and pedal away before they even started yelling.

So.. I may have contributed to your cabbies tude! Sry.

Hidden Driveways · Post by **Hidden Driveways** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 3:25 pm

Patch wrote:5 drunks piled into a 4 seater cab? Asking for trouble...

Obviously, someone chasing after Tek with a wrench is totally psycho. That dude should be locked up. I was talking about drunk meathead dudes in the Village who act like the city is their douche bag playground.

aqua_tek · Post by **aqua_tek** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 3:51 pm

Hidden Driveways wrote:I've been in the city for over 9 years. I've never encountered a cabbie who's been overly unreasonable with me.

I see people all the time being totally unreasonable with drivers. It's usually drunk people on the weekends in the East Village. The cabbies have a pretty horrible job, then they get to the weekend and drunk douche bags give them a hard time. It's one of my least favorite things about the city. Drunken entitlement to be pricks toward hard working people.

lol well its quite clear that the guy was already having a bad night / weekend / week / month / year / etc.

And in our defense we're usually pretty non-confrontational cause we're pretty respectful of people with harsh, shitty jobs, plus we believe in self-preservation as well. Never know when some crazy person will... well... pull out a wrench and chase after you for half a block. Or even worse.

We would have gladly divided up ourselves into 2 cabs if the guy had been reasonable about it. But of course, he probably had already dealt with belligerent, douchebaggy, drunken people over the course of the weekend, and figured we'd also be giving him grief, so he preemptively proceeded to take out his pent up anger on us.

I know these people have it rough, and I kind of saw the look on his face when he realized he'd taken things too far, which is why in the end I just let it go, despite the fact that this one (annoying) girl in our group wouldn't shut up about calling the cops and reporting him.

Still, pretty scary/funny moment, when he pulled out that wrench and started chasing after us. Very Beerfest-like

Cue-in at 3:47:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTzP_ieDeuM

darkcatt · Post by **darkcatt** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 3:54 pm

Hidden Driveways · Post by **Hidden Driveways** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 4:09 pm