Earlier as I attempted to enter the bridge back to Cortez, the local police waived me down with their flashlights and instructed me to pick up a passenger in the Barrio Longun district. I wasn’t particularly interested in picking up this passenger, and normally we aren’t allowed to, unless we are directed to by a police officer, which supersedes any local taxi ordinances. I didn’t actually talk with the officers, they just directed the man towards my car. (The photos below is roughly where I picked the man up)
As the man approached I could see that he was big, probably 250lbs of mainly muscle, sweating profusely, with large dilated eyes moving around furtively. He wanted to go to this porn shop on the other side of the downtown area. The man was non-combative, but scary nonetheless. He just kept rambling and babbling incessantly about one conspiracy, or at least what he perceived to be a conspiracy, or another.
He seemed like a bright individual, at one time at least, possibly with an advanced degree of some sort, who was well versed in history. Almost like someone who had worked for some covert faction of the government, at some point in his life. It was obvious the man was on some hard drugs. My best guess would be PCP. Perhaps to escape things he had done or seen, things average man couldn’t dream of seeing or doing…
I mean this guy was lit up like a Christmas tree. He was just drooling blood, dripping it all over his shirt. No wonder the cops wouldn’t pick him up, it was nice of them to pass him over to me. When we arrived at the porn shop, F Street, he asked me how much it would be to Oceanside, and if he could get a card to call for a ride later. Oceanside is a great ride, probably at least $100. After some quick thinking I gave him a blank company card and told him to call back later, knowing full well that we couldn’t pick him up downtown. Well, he didn’t know that and I thought it would be a good opportunity to diffuse the situation, after all, I didn’t know if he actually had any more money and who knows how far along in his drug induced state he would be by then.
P.S. - This is not the man who I picked up in my taxi that night, just someone who shares a resemblance.
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