Rant #1,759: The End of An Era

Lost amidst the hubbub surrounding my wife and my visit to Seoul, Korea was the fact that my father evidently has retired from driving a cab for good, after more than 50 years behind the wheel.

He is nearly 85 years of age, is still dealing with the after-effects of pneumonia, and my mother has decided that the work is too strenuous for him, so she has said that that is that.

Yes, my mother decided that, because if my father had his way, he would still be behind the wheel.

I told my mother that she was right, but that she should leave his options open. If they are short on cash one week for whatever reason, if he is fit enough and feels OK, he can go in and drive, maybe once in a blue moon.

But for all intents and purposes, his career as a New York City licensed medallion cab driver is over and done with.

He worked two weeks ago one day, and while he had a good day, you could see that the time away from the cab--after contracting pneumonia several weeks earlier--did play on him.

He looked a little worn out, but that is understandable after having been away from work for many weeks.

But his doctor's diagnosis that he still was battling pneumonia pretty much put the final nail in his career, and being that he is of an advanced age, he might actually still have this sickness for several more weeks, even if, at this point, it is very slight.

So his career is for all intents and purposes over and done with, and while he admits he enjoys being home after so many years behind the wheel, he has had a fabulous career, one that he can look back on with glee.

My father started out as a kosher chicken butcher on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and he worked with my grandfather in a store on Delancey Street.

As the area changed, their business wasn't what it once was, and then Mayor John Lindsay announced that a bridge would be built at that spot, and that they had to vacate this area as work was to begin.

This was really the tipping point for the next 50-plus years of my father's life, and even though that bridge was never built, it was the best non-event that could ever happen to anyone.

My father did not know what to do--continue as a butcher?--but he had driven a cab here and there to help make ends meet on occasion, and pushed by a friend who was a full-time cabbie, he decided that this is what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.

He bought his first cab, and basically, the rest is history.

He picked up common folk and celebrities, helped people who couldn't afford rides to get to their destination in his cab, was on several TV and radio shows and appeared in a few films, and really found his niche as a cab driver. He knew Manhattan like most people know their own name, so he was really a natural for this job, and he really took it to the hilt.

For many of his years as a cabbie, he owned a Checker cab, truly the Cadillac of cabs, and he drove that brand of cab until the company went out of business several years ago.

He drove other types of cabs, went with the flow with the new, computerized cabs, and whatever type of cab he drove, when he was behind the wheel, he was in his element, and he brought probably hundreds of thousands of passengers from all walks of life to their destinations safely.

He has a million cab stories to tell, many of them not fit for print in a family discussion, but when behind the wheel, he was a hard worker, and many of the funny and interesting things just happened to him, he didn't look for them, but they found him.

He often said that he was one of the inspirations for the film "Taxi Driver," as Martin Scorcese was one of his fares, told him he was working on such a film, and drove around with my father, taking notes as he spoke with him. Scorcese told him he would get back to him, he never did, but when my parents went to see the movie, he drove up in his Checker cab, and people crowded around the car, thinking it was connected to the film.

That is just one of the thousand stories he could tell you. He picked up many celebrities--everyone from Jackie Kennedy Onassis to Tiny Tim, and he gave them the respect they deserved, and oftentimes they gave it back to him.

He argued with Howard Cosell, tried to get Michael J. Fox to give me a job when I was out of work, and took Andre the Giant to a motel so he could have dalliances with some ladies.

He also picked up people just like you and me, took them to their destination, and that was that.

And now it really is that was that, as after more than 50 years behind the wheel, he begrudgingly has called it a day.

I am so proud of my father and his accomplishments that I am bursting at the seams. Sure, I am sad that he isn't going to work anymore, but my goodness, look back at his career.

It really is amazing.

When the time was right, he took the bull by the horns, learned a new industry from the ground up, and made a nice living, and made it better for myself, my sister and my mother.

Later, he was an inspiration to his grandchildren.

What more can you ask?

Congratulations to my father, and now he can relax for the first time in his life.

To me, 85 is the new 65, and he has lots of years ahead of him to enjoy life.

He is my hero, and I wish him the best.