9
eveningsout
Tales from the streets An enjoyable insider's peek at life as a New York cab driver
Hack
by Melissa Plaut
Villard, $13.95, trade paperback Reviewed by Terri Schlichenmeyer
Remember how excited you were to start your last job?
Remember the day you were hired and how absolutely thrilled you were? How your head was swimming with the names of new coworkers to memorize, the layout of a new building to learn, and the jargon you had to know to do your fantastic new job? Remember how you couldn't wait to leave and find another new job?
Work. Who needs it?
Maybe you should just chuck it all and drive a cab. Or maybe not, if you ask lesbian author-blogger-cabbie Melissa Plaut. In her new book Hack, you'll see that driving a cab could drive a person crazy.
While all of her friends were graduating from college, finding partners and settling down, Plaut wasn't sure what she wanted to do with her life, and it bothered her. She'd always kept a mental list of things she dreamed about, adventure being at the top of the list. Driving a taxi in New York City seemed like the grandest adventure of all, so Plaut took classes and a multi-part test, got her license and found a family-owned cab company to work for.
At first, learning the streets of the Big Apple was difficult and scary, but Plaut had maps, a cell phone so she could call her parents for directions, and plenty of drive to be a good cabbie. Customers were surprisingly very patient with her then, but later in her new career, too many fares were rude and nasty. Some dashed off without paying her. Others left the kind of mess nobody should have to clean up. Still others tried to do illegal things in the cab, gave bad directions, or acted as if Plaut were invisible or ignorant.
Despite some good passenger experiences and trying to be nice to everybody, despite having the adventure she craved and making new friends in the "office," she soon became jaded and unhappy.
After about two years, Plaut decided she'd
HACK
HOW I STOPPED WORRYING ABOUT WHAT TO DO WITH MY LIFE AND STARTED DRIVING A YELLOW CAB
MELISSA PLAUT
"Bach is the best hair laugh, starp wind vry bit as heart-stopping" -
determined det festas 4x2 Z545 author of tod
had all the "adventure" she could hack. (But, according to her blog at http:// newyorkhack.blogspot.com, she's back behind the wheel.)
Hmm. Skinny little book. Short chapters. For a fast reader, why did this book take so long for me to finish?
Because it is so enjoyable, one doesn't want it to end, that's why.
Hack is funny and honest, an insider's peek at a job that many people wouldn't be brave enough to do and an off-handed kudos to those who are. You can't get enough of Plaut's experiences. Although she says she eventually became irritated at people who badgered her with questions about her customers, her coworkers, and what it's like to be a female in a mostly all-male industry, I have to admit that I would've been right alongside those interrogators.
If you've ever driven a cab, ridden in a cab, or thought the grass was greener on someone else's paycheck, grab this book and settle down in the back seat. Hack is definitely one incredible ride.
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November 2, 2007 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE
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