Ms. Cab-driver

So, I met a cab-driver today who is becoming a teacher. She had some really amazing thoughts about New Orleans and the people here.

When she first arrived to NOLA from up north 6 years ago, she was on a call in which a woman was trying to coerce her grandfather out of the house into the car. "It costs too much money." He kept yelling from the doorway. The granddaughter prodded and pleaded, but couldn't get the guy off the porch. After 10 minutes, the cabbie told the customer that she had to move along, but she'd come back when the old guy was ready to go. The granddaughter, replied, "No ma'am, he's ready and he's going." She proceeded to drag him out to the car. He hesitated by the door and said,"This will only be my third time in one of these motorized vehicles." Shocked, the driver asked him how he managed that, to which he replied, "I've never needed to go anywhere more than a mile from my home." He was 80 years old.

This is why the cabbie wants to be a teacher. Because she wants the kids of NOLA to have an experience that is bigger than the blocks that surround their house. She wants them to know that drug dealers and rappers aren't the only people who can get ahead in the world, and that having a good life doesn't necessarily equate to loads of cash and material things. She doesn't want them to think that the only options are to live poor or to "hustle." She's seen too many of the hustlers....in her neighborhood, in her cab, in the streets when she has dropped people off or picked them up.

She knows New Orleans like the back of her hand. She quit driving about a year ago - she needed a change. She gets the 7 year itch, she said, and needs to try something new. So, she started to pursue teaching. It was a long, slow process and she almost gave up. She was ready to go back to the cab when a teaching job popped up. She misses driving - she feels separated from the town, from what is happening. She used to know everything that was going on and now she is removed from it. Without the cab, she has no personal transporation and though she knows all of the bus routes, it just doesn't feel the same.

Her life is different now - carless and on a new path, possibly a more reckless one - she'll be a teacher, like me. Or, maybe, hopefully, I'll be a teacher like she is.

Aaacckkkkk!!!!!!

What I did this weekend -
Packed. Wrapped up work at UF(at least momentarily. Packed and cleaned. Spent time with my sister, Jennifer, & my nieces, Kayla & Kendall, who popped in from North Carolina on a whim! Had a lot of playground time. Visited Poe Springs & had a picnic. Packed and cleaned some more. Rented a car (twice - it's a long story - I won't get into it). Met with our new tenant/ roommate to show him the ropes. Talked with James several times to discuss the countless things that needed tending. Packed and cleaned. Still packing and cleaning - will it ever end?

What James did this weekend -
Went to a fish fry at our new neighbors place. Went fishing in the gulf with some new friends (he said he was really tired afterwards, because he had to get up at 3:00am - I was probably only mildly sympathetic). Studied and did homework(still can't believe that James is back in school -neither can he.) Listened to me melt down at least once or twice about whatever freaked me out at that moment....

My plan is to leave tomorrow - early. My program starts Thursday. We are hoping to be able to move into our temporary new place tomorrow - pending some painting and other odd jobs that need completing by our landlords. I need somewhere to unload the rental!