Cabbie

[NicklausLouis]

If I got into a cab and they handed me a life vest and a life preserver, I'd think, "Man. This is gonna be a bad ride, you know?"

As someone who has big dreams in life, I often wonder how most people are content to live life doing the same things over and over again every day. It confuses me when I hear someone say they just want to go home and watch T.V. when judging by their engrossing explanation of the new "Survivor" twists that's exactly what they did last night. I'm the kind of person who needs to be doing something to feel constructive. If I spend a day doing nothing but watching T.V. and surfing the net, I feel lazy and worthless.

That's why I can relate to Marty Yacovelli.

In Donlee Brussel's short film "Cabbie", Steve Gelder plays Marty -- a Chicago man who wants nothing more than to drive a cab...preferably in New York ("The Show" for cabbies). He yearns to be a cabbie so bad that he practices his small talk in front of a mirror for hours every day. To him, being a cabbie would be like being "an ambassador of good will...in a yellow car". The only thing that stands in Marty's way is his inability to pass the driver's test.

Gelder does a great job of infusing Marty with a real life persona and refrains from dumbing him down. Sure, he's not the most eloquent guy in the Windy City and he'll probably never be a Jeopardy champion (unless the categories are all related to cabs and cab drivers), but he knows his goal and he puts all of his effort into achieving that goal. In my mind, there is nothing more intelligent.