I got into the cab slowly enough to size up the situation. One car in the family means that every once in a while I’m well and truly stranded, public transportation not being enough. I have to trust some other person to be a decent driver who will get me where I want to go safely and quickly. When I’m lucky, I can get a story out of it, too. The tall thin frame of a Somali man greeted me, as usual in cabs these days, and that was the situation. I needed a ride, he was making a living, and that was all there was to the deal. I told him where I needed to go and we were off.