Six degrees of Chicago cab driver
— a true account —

9 June 2005 — Chicago, Illinois

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O’Hare Airport. I get in, wearing a baseball cap with the Texas Longhorns logo on the front.

Me: Downtown, please. Hotel Allegro.

Cab driver: Texas, huh? I have a cousin in school in Austin.

Me: At UT?

Cab driver: Yes. In Austin.

. . .

Later, the cab driver points to the car in front of us on the freeway. The car has a Texas A&M sticker on the rear window.

Cab driver (pointing to car ahead): Texas A&M. My sister is in school at Texas A&M.

Me: Really? Hm.

. . .

The radio is on. Someone is talking about something or other going on in Bath, England.

Cab driver: Bath is a beautiful city.

Me: I’ve never been there.

Cab driver: Yes, I have a cousin that goes to school in Bath.

. . .

Radio program continues with a story about some city in some European country and how they are allowing Polish bus drivers to immigrate and work in the city. This is controversial because the Polish drivers will work for lower wages than the locals. There are protests.

Cab driver: They are letting Polish bus drivers work in that city. That’s good, they need to be able to work and support their families.

Me: Yeah, it’s good they can do that.

Cab driver: My wife is Polish.