karaoke kabbie

I HAVE YET TO MEET A LATE-NIGHT TAXI PASSENGER WHO DOESN'T become instantly happy, sappy and ready to karaoke upon hearing the opening piano riff from Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" wafting innocently from the BobCab car stereo.

One of the highlights of my first 4 months driving a cab has been the many nights when I've been witness to — and frequent participant in — a series of raucous rounds of drunken group singing. (Don't worry, I'm the smiling guy behind the wheel who isn't drunk.) How many wasted passengers, young and not-so-young alike, have channeled their inner Steve Perry as they wailed earnestly into my nearby welcoming ears?

"Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching in the night
Streetlights people, living just to find emotion
Hiding, somewhere in the night..."

Bring it on, I say! With a cranked stereo, midnight lighting and sufficient gusto, nobody's a rotten singer. Everybody's a rock star in BobCab.

Or, at least that's how it's been a time or 13.

Don't believe me?

For the next 13 days I will recount 13 of the most memorable BobCab karaoke rides. As a writer, aspiring world-renowned blogger and collector of stories, this is something I must do. While it's still semi-fresh in my mind.

And if you've been a participant in any of this mayhem, feel free to chime in with your recollections.

What am I saying? Clearly, few, if any, of my regulars, semi-regulars or one-timers have been following this far-from-regular blog of mine — even though the URL is clearly visible on the kickass business cards I hand out to almost everyone who gets in my cab.

Can't say I blame them.

If they're like me, they might check out the blog once or twice, if at all. While rarely, if ever, leaving a comment. Then they'll either forget about it . . . or like it enough to keep coming back — only to lose interest when the blogger doesn't post anything new for long stretches of time.

So I will now attempt to stop being one of those aggravating bloggers who blows off writing anything for weeks on end. I intend to write and post on a regular basis — even if no one's listening.

Sort of like BobCab karaoke. Everyone's so busy belting out the song at the top of their lungs, they're not listening to anyone else singing.

"Don't stop believin'...hold on to that feeliiiiiing..."

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COMING TOMORROW: Lauryn Hill and a 3 a.m. trip to the Eastside with 3 black dudes.

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P.S. How do you like my new music player? Each of these songs has inspired a memorable BobCab moment or 2. With more to come, no doubt.

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