Late Night Cab from Ozzfest

Tonight, I went to Ozzfest, in hopes of catching Iron Maiden for the second time in the same venue (with a span of 6 years between), and Black Sabbath. I won't go into the details of the concert right now, as the hour is late and I have to turn in for a long day tomorrow, but I will mention that I love really late night cab rides home to Brooklyn. My driver tonight was a 43 year old Guinean man who has been driving for 16 years and is hoping to move from yellow cab driving to a bus or some other option next month.

He has 4 kids, the eldest of whom will be 13 soon (though he had an older child who passed away). He lived in the 150s and Broadway up until 8 months ago, at which point he wanted to take his family out of the neighborhood, and did just that, moving 184 miles north to Binghamton. He drives his cab down every week to work in the city for 4 days, during which time he stays with one of his more than 100 relatives who are living either in this city or other parts of the country.

He looked younger than 43, laughed and spoke freely about the difficulty of driving in NYC, and the stress that accumulates if you're not careful. He even told me about how some customers ask him if he's been to the club that is their destination, to which he replies: "I've never been to a club. I don't even eat out at restaurants! My wife cooks, and I eat at home."

Well. Thank you, kind sir, for giving me a safe ride home from Penn Station late at night, and reminding me that there is a path around every barrier. G'night y'all.