&games

In the lull after a mad bar-closing-rush it is common for several cab drivers to congregate back at the dispatch office. On this particular night I was one of those drivers.

The dispatcher got up to use the bathroom and the phone started ringing, so being closest to the phone I sat down and started dispatching. After 10 minutes the dispatcher still wasn't back and a call came in from the zone where the office is located.

The driver who was up for the call wasn't answering his radio. The second driver up for the call (#44) wasn't answering his radio either. The third driver was standing in the office shooting the breeze. Before giving the trip to him I pondered to myself, "I wonder if the driver of #44 is also standing around gabbing," because off the top of my head I could not remember who was driving #44.

"Hey," I shouted, "is one of you guys driving 44?"

They looked at each other. "It's none of us."

After a pause (and you saw this coming), "Aren't you driving 44?"

As a matter of fact I was driving 44 that night.

It wasn't that funny, but no one who was there will ever let me forget it.