Taxi Mouse, Minivan Mouse

My husband and I grew up in similar areas, both suburbs of major metropolitan areas. I grew up outside NYC, and Daniel grew up outside Atlanta. Given their proximity to cities, both areas were pretty rural. My town even more so than Daniel's. Farms. Cows. No street lights. However, we have two very different perspectives on city living - I LOVE it and Daniel HATES it. I love the energy. The commotion. The chaos. I particularly appreciate public transportation. Daniel hates all of the above - especially public transportation. Why? I really have no idea. So when we went to San Diego, I conveniently forgot to tell him that we weren't going to rent a car : ) I wasn't trying to be sneaky, but I knew there would be no reason to rent a car for $60 per day PLUS pay $40 per day to park it at the hotel. TOTALLY not worth it. Plus, I like the convenience of hopping into a cab, and not thinking about it again until you arrive - no maps, no GPS, no arguing over the best way to go... Daniel wasn't super excited when he found out, but I assured him we would avoid all trains, buses and subways, at which point I could see him breathe a sigh of relief.

Side note: Here is an image of Daniel from one of our pre-baby trips back in 2007-ish. Note the annoyed look, beads of sweat forming over his brow, and general hatred of all things public transportation. : )

We were in Chicago for a friend's wedding and again, I had refused to rent a car since public transportation was so readily available. At the time this pic was taken, we were waiting for the train to head back to our hotel. Just an hour before, Daniel had suggested we "flag down a bus" and "have it take us to our hotel." I started to explain the concept of bus routes to him with no avail... he was not a happy camper to say the least Am I wrong for getting such enjoyment out of this lovely image? : )


Anyway... back to San Diego. So luckily our hotel had a fleet of Taxis waiting to take us anywhere we needed to go, and the fares were super cheap. As we rode to our various destinations, I would break out my favorite Nick Jr. song (video above) - Taxi - and Paige and I would clap and sing and laugh. Even the cab driver would join in on the fun. Daniel - not so much. I could see him looking out the window, praying the ride would soon be over so he could get on solid ground and back in control of his surroundings. Mr. Too-Cool-For-School was again, sweating bullets. Heheheheh....

And everyone who has ever ridden in a taxi knows that the drivers are some of the most interesting people you will ever meet. Aspiring politicians, actors, finance gurus - they are a wealth of information. Once in NY I had a Taxi driver tell me about how he knew Bernie Madoff was corrupt before everyone else -- and because of that knowledge, he decided not to invest his money with him. I didn't realize Steven Spielberg and this particular taxi driver ran in the same financial circles ; )  I love chatting with the drivers and hearing the pearls of wisdom drop off their tongues. One in San Diego began telling us about a recent article he read re: race relations in Atlanta, then quickly jumped to discussing how the lunar landing was all a farse. Daniel thinks I'm crazy and always gives me a look like, "Please don't egg him on..." Well, on our final trip to the airport, we had the best taxi driver EVER! He was an aspiring comedian, and his forte was knock-knock jokes. BRILLIANT! The first few minutes were funny... even stoneface Daniel laughed. But you can only hear so many knock knock jokes before they get a little old. My four year old niece recently discovered the joy of telling knock knock jokes, but hers are actually funny! Mr. Taxi Driver's jokes...well... after the 50th or so we were ready to leap out the window. But it was still a once in a lifetime experience that you can only get on public transportation. Now if only I could have gotten Daniel on the train or bus.... there is always next time!