Romance in a yellow cab
Iva Pekarkova is one of those writers who observe life through living it. She has never been afraid of taking risks, whether as a rebellious teenager in 1970s Czechoslovakia or ten years later when she smuggled herself out of the country via Yugoslavia, and more recently still behind the wheel of a New York yellow cab. All these experiences find their way into her writing, and if you don't speak Czech you can enjoy three of her novels in English translation: "Truck Stop Rainbows", "The World is Round" and "Gimme the Money" - which offers a vivid portrait of the life of a New York taxi driver. Iva is now back in Prague, although she's feeling more and more homesick for cosmopolitan NYC. Here she describes one of her more unlikely experiences from her cab driving days.
Iva Pekarkova is one of those writers who observe life through living it. She has never been afraid of taking risks, whether as a rebellious teenager in 1970s Czechoslovakia or ten years later when she smuggled herself out of the country via Yugoslavia, and more recently still behind the wheel of a New York yellow cab. All these experiences find their way into her writing, and if you don't speak Czech you can enjoy three of her novels in English translation: "Truck Stop Rainbows", "The World is Round" and "Gimme the Money" - which offers a vivid portrait of the life of a New York taxi driver. Iva is now back in Prague, although she's feeling more and more homesick for cosmopolitan NYC. Here she describes one of her more unlikely experiences from her cab driving days.
"I have a story to tell about love in New York City. I was driving a yellow cab and - as you know - you don't ever get the same customer twice. It happened maybe two or three times in my whole career. But one night, maybe three or four in the morning, this couple gets into the cab and they are fighting, and eventually the guy slams the door at the red light and he's gone. And all of a sudden the girl starts crying and she says: "Oh what have I done? How can I find him again?" And I say: "Well, can't you just call him up or something? It should be easy." "Oh I don't know his address, I don't have his phone number. I just met him at a bar and I like him so much. How can I spend the rest of my life without him?" And then she gives me her phone number and address just in case I ever run into him. Of course, I didn't ever think I would. And then - believe it or not - three or four days later I am driving a cab again, going to similar bars, and there's the guy getting into my cab. And he recognized me and I recognized him and I asked him about his would-be girlfriend. And of course I knew the truth. And he said: "Oh, I didn't like the woman so much. I just met her at a bar the previous night and I was such an ass, I don't know how I did it, why I did that. If only I knew where to find her," and I said: "Well, actually, I have her phone number and address." And so I gave it to him and I hope they will be happy ever after."
