MUGGING, THRIFT AND URBAN ALTRUISM

Here’s a riddle: how did I get mugged, overhear a TV executive get fired by cell phone and get called the best person in all Manhattan by a Holocaust survivor?
Answer: by making split-second decisions to share taxis. The following is a partial memoir of an unrepentant cab sharer—who saves nearly a hundred dollars a month.

If there’s a moral to my memoir, it’s never ride with people who invite themselves, no matter how sweet or innocent they seem or how much you long to save another six bucks. Share your cabs with guests of your own choosing.

First: the mugging. It’s raining and miserably cold as I run across West End Avenue to grab a cab. A schlumpy guy in a blue shirt and no umbrella asks me, “Please can I get a ride?” Raindrops blur his thick eyeglasses. Read more