Seattle Culture
Tales of a Cabbie
Writer explores the underbelly of an industry
By Rob Smith July 8, 2024
This article originally appeared in the May/June 2024 issue of Seattle magazine.
With the rise of ridesharing companies such as Uber and Lyft, it’s never been easier to have a side hustle.
Seattle magazine’s July 1969 issue featured a first-person essay by writer Gordon Bowker who, from 5 p.m. until 3 a.m. five days a week, drove a cab. The story is rife with descriptions of long-forgotten icons of the city (the Blue Mouse, the Music Box, the Wee Piper) as well as some of the more interesting characters in search of a ride past midnight.
“Being a writer and being a cab driver are not so different, except that fewer writers get knocked over at night,” Bowker observed. In another passage, he expressed a common concern shared by cab drivers for decades: Would a drunk vomit in the back seat?
“The realtor comes to as we leave the freeway. I can smell stomach acid and stale bourbon. He is drooling profusely,” Bowker writes. “His suit is stained with booze and tomato sauce.” Some things never change.
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