Remember Italian Tony?

Tony was a guy that everyone liked and knew. He was an old crab apple but he was in poor heath that must have affected his mood. He was one of the long time drivers from way back. I mean back to "The Bagel Boys" days. If you are still around from that time, you are one of a handful.

Tony came to Florida like many do in search of a better life. That was in the days when they said you got paid in sunshine. Hell, he had already been driving cab 15 years when I started in 1995. He worked the airport for ten years, then, became a night driver. No matter what he did, he could not get ahead.

I used to talk to Tony a lot and he expressed a desire to work in the hot rod industry. He was an expert of vintage cars. However, he could never get his finances right to move to California where the action was. Instead, he stayed in the cab until the day he died. Literally.

That is a fate that awaits many cab drivers who get into a since of denial about just how bad things are. I promised myself that I would never do that. Circumstances out of my control since 2007 have given me no choice. I am ready now. I just hope they don't find me (or any other taxi driver) dead in a motel room. That is not the most dignified way to go. But it has happened to way to many drivers.