Taxi Driver
I ordered a taxi to Galway airport but had no idea how much that would cost. Fearing I might be caught short of Euros I asked the driver to give me an estimate before we set off.
鈥淭hat really depends on the mood I鈥檓 in," he told me, 鈥渁nd, to be frank, how nice you are to me on the journey.鈥
This struck me as a kind of spooky thing to say and I glanced sideways to make sure that Robert De Niro wasn't at the wheel. We eventually agreed that the fare would be well under twenty Euros. Making an effort to be 鈥渘ice鈥 I told him I was heading for Inverness via Luton.
鈥淲hy in God鈥檚 name would you want to go to Inverness?鈥
鈥淲ell, that鈥檚 where I live.鈥
鈥淥h I suppose we all have our crosses to bear.鈥
He asked me what football team I supported. Inverness Caledonian Thistle, of course.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 the point in that?鈥 he asked.
I explained there was a certain thrill to be had in turning up at a game not knowing what kind of score line tragedy might befall us. He smiled for the first time and agreed that was true. He told me he had once supported Millwall in the days when he lived in England and when the team tactics involved booting everyone else off the park.
鈥淭hey were the only fans who would arrive at away games with tools鈥o that they could dismantle the seats and thrown them at people.鈥
After that he had gone to work in America but now he was in Galway and bored with the whole taxi business.
鈥淭o be honest if I have to drive to this airport one more time I think I鈥檒l just crack up.鈥
As we parked outside the tiny terminal building I gave him my twenty Euro note and told him I felt lucky that I was his current passenger and not his next one.
鈥淵es鈥ecause he鈥檒l be my last one.鈥
I鈥檓 not sure he was joking.
