Cabbie: New York City 1971,1972 True Tales by N.G. Haiduck

“N. G. Haiduck’s collection of stories, Cabbie, is like riding shotgun in a yellow cab up and down New York City streets, in the 1970s. Our gutsy driver introduces herself by saying, ‘I’m a big hit at the garage. It’s not just that I’m a woman, but that I’m so little.’ Haiduck depicts both the supportive and the frustrating aspects of driving a cab in the city. The other cabbies help out. When the car seat doesn’t pull up:’Hey, Izzy, give the girl another car; her feet don’t reach the pedals and the seat won’t pull up.’ Jake takes her under his wing and shows her where and at what times to pick up fares. Police officers help too: ‘Today, I got stuck behind another truck. A policeman made the truck pull over. Let the young lady make some money.’ But there are those gas fumes on the day shift, drunks thrown in the back seat on the night shift. The week she got a second parking ticket, she says: ‘I am pleading guilty with an explanation since I absolutely HAD to stop and take a piss. I just could not wait one second longer, not one more second.’ When she catches her boss Sammy stealing from her, she gets even, without saying a word. Haiduck’s writing is hilarious and heartbreaking. The quick city-like pacing of her writing makes this book impossible to put down. In the 1970s, Shirley Chisholm’s run for President inspired many women, including Haiduck, so Cabbie closes with her succeeding in a male dominated workplace—and making plans for the future. ‘A woman can be anything. I can be anything, Just wait.’”

 –Melinda Thomsen, author of Armature

Interview:  https://www.radiosefarad.com/n-g-haiduck-a-girl-cabbie-in-new-york/