September 08 - Pacific San Diego Magazine

THINK
taxicab
confessions
I have a cousin in San Diego that I visit a couple times
a year. Beautiful city you guys have there… I hear it’s
America’s Finest. But, to be honest, I couldn’t live
there. I’m just not the car-owning type.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t dislike cars; it’s just that
I like my cars yellow and waiting at the curb with
a driver and a meter that quietly ticks each fifth of
a mile. One of the best things about taxis is that,
when I get out of the car, I’ve immediately erased
the vehicle from my memory. I don’t have to circle
the block endlessly looking for a space or remember
where I parked it, and I don’t worry about having a
second glass of wine at dinner—there’s always a half
a dozen designated drivers circling the block.
It’s true that NYC traffic can be more brutal than rush
hour at the merge on the 5 north (I still don’t get the
whole “The” thing with California freeways), but then
there’s an entire network of sleek subway trains that can
zip me to any point in Manhattan in 30 minutes flat.
I’m not totally immune to car-envy, though. There are
days at the grocery store when I wish I could fill up
the trunk with bulk rolls of paper towels or a couple
cases of beer rather than be limited to what my two
arms can carry the five blocks back to my apartment.
And, on days when I want to take a nice day trip out
of town, I have to wait in line at Avis with all the other
car-less New Yorkers who had the same idea.
But I’ve never had Porsche envy. The idea of the
status-car is lost on me. I’d choose a pair of 4-inch
Louboutins as my high-end mode of transportation
over a new 5 Series any day. Plus, when I’m riding in
a taxi, I can relax with the latest
copy of Pacific San Diego, the
nation’s second best magazine.
-Ann
Ann Shoket is editor-in-chief of Seventeen
Magazine. She has lived in New York City for
18 years and has three pairs of Louboutins.
photo by stephen danelian
54 | SEPTEMBER 2008 « PACIFICsandiego.com