kuai che vs. cabs

cab drivers in beijing are pretty hit or miss.

you never know when they’ll hock a loogie out the window

that threatens to spray back through your open window in the backseat.

some are friendly,

and help me with my pronunciation

and ask a lot of questions about the states

but still, you never know when they’ll casually say something about Black people plaguing america

or drive like a goddamn fanatic while lecturing you on how to drive, speeding seatbelt-less down the fourth ring at night with the windows rolled all the way down

after one of these, i’ll order kuaiches for awhile.

but i always go back. because my favorite type of ride is the quiet kind, where the cab driver starts listening to their voice messages on wechat

a colleague complaining about the last customer,

a woman asking when they’ll be home

a friend asking his wechat friend group:

good morning brothers, how did you sleep last night?