8
Are You Smarter Than a Cab Driver?
"You are at the intersection of 155th Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan and a passenger wants to go to Jerome Avenue and 163rd Street in the Bronx. Which of the following is the closest bridge connecting Manhattan to the Bronx?"
—Are you really qualified to tell your cabbie which way to go?
Macombs Dam. Without even looking at the possible answers.
During my first year or so in New York, I attempted to tell a cabbie (who himself didn't know the relevant directions) how to get from Bay Ridge to Williamsburg in the wee hours of the morning. I failed miserably, and in return got the "In my country I was a doctor" speech. We finally made it home once the sun started to come up and I could tell which way east was.
"take us to the best gay bar in town!"
Kind of a trick question, in that there is no intersection of Jerome & 163rd? The Yankee Stadium superblock goes from 161st to 164th.
I may be smarter than the TLC, though: how the fuck do you go "East on Central Park West"?
Like a real cab driver will agree to go to any of those places.
Not only do I not feel qualified to tell my cabbie which way to go, I'm enraged when they ask me how to get where I'm going. How the fuck am I supposed to know? That's why I'm taking a cab.