Taxistas

I really love taxi drivers.  I just find it fascinating that someone would have a life of driving people around.  Now, don't get all excited.  I need to clarify.  I love Latino taxi drivers... not ALL taxi drivers.  They're so talkative (most of the time) once you get them going and they always have interesting things to say.  They tend to be very well versed in the news as they tend to read the newspapers frequently as they're waiting for customers. They're also so diverse... coming from all walks of life.

This also means that they all have different accents.  Now, most of the time it's not a problem.  But every 1 out of 5 taxi drivers has an accent so thick, that I no longer have any clue as to what he's saying.  For some reason, these always tend to be the ones that LOVE to talk.  I ask them how long they've been a taxi driver and they're off.  At first, I always try to have them repeat or say things a little louder... then I give up in a hopeless repetition of "Oh wow" or "Yeah, isn't that something", or "No way, that sounds horrible" depending on their tone of voice.  I'm pretty sure I get away with it about 70% of the time, but there's always that awkward moment in which I know I said the wrong thing and the taxi driver is positive I'm an idiot.  We inevitably pass the rest of the drive in silence in which I feel horrible, but also realize there's nothing I can do about it since I'm not going to learn this guy's accent in the last 5 minutes in the car.  Oh well.  You win some, you lose some.