Monday, March 16, 2009

More Wisdom from Cabdrivers


Last June, I told the story of how I ordered a car to take me to NJ and the cab driver informed me that Jews wear little hats on their head so that no one can see what they're thinking and steal their business plans. This weekend, I was fortunate enough to learn the true story of Passover from a cab driver on Saturday night. We were coming from Milan's birthday party, so I was talking about Serbians, when the cab driver, Mohammed Sallem, looks in the rearview mirror, tells me he is Egyptian and asks me to tell him my opinion on Egyptians.

So I tell them that Egyptians are very interesting because they walk around doing the Walk Like An Egyptian dance, they live in pyramids which were built by the enslaved Jews and are ruled by a Pharoah named Ramses. Mohammed then told me that the pyramids are tombs, which I pointed out as false because they are houses, and that nobody does the Walk Like An Egyptian dance - people walk normally. I asked him to prove it and he said he couldn't because he was driving and then told him nice try and declared victory. Mohammed then asked me if I wanted to know the truth, and I said of course, and he said in that actuality the Jews were never slaves in Egypt, they were in fact the trusted advisors of the Pharoahs and the Egyptians, which is why the Jews were able to borrow all the gold from the Egyptians before fleeing the country which they then made into a golden calf. I told Mohammed that his version of events was a blatant lie, and that no self-respecting Jew would steal gold and then waste it on making an ugly gold statue, and that the more likely scenario was that they took the gold and started jewelry businesses in midtown Manhattan and the cab driver agreed that this is probably what happened.

4 comments:

The only frog with his own blog said...

haha taxidriver wisdom should be a more regular segment... i always talk to my drivers as well, but generally try to stay away from religion or politics.. maybe thats where im going wrong

Unknown said...

Hiya! We had the misfortune of going to the same high school... we weren't friends, I was two years behind you. However, since I took part in the embarressment that was Dr. B's Les Cabotins, I feel we are bonded for life in some sort of shame that only having taken part in a French Acting Troupe can render :).

Anyway, I always found you and your friend Ariel entertaining at French Club functions, which otherwise would have been an unbareable means of attaining extra credit...and I love your blog, I'm hoping you really do write a book!

With that said, I have to ask, why were you randomly talking about Serbians in the cab??? You have something against us?! Pour quoi??

Well, glad to see you're doing well, wish you all the best... cheers!

Robespierre said...

Aleksandra - because I was in the cab with my friend, Milan, who is Serbian, and we were talking about Serbians...

Unknown said...

Wow, is it hip now to have Serbian friends? :)

Pozdrav za Milane!