AUDIO: Another story from Late Night Larry, recorded late one morning at the National barbecue. With chatter in the background from Juneaux, Daniel the Chef, Old Man John and myself…
“I’m coming down O’Farrell Street and I get flagged by this couple. And from the early conversation, I realize they were husband and wife. The guy says to me, ‘You know, you just look like the kind of cab driver we’ve been looking for…'”
Daniel the Chef, inspecting the new grill
The National Barbecue is a cross between a hobo cookout and a bunch of pirates carousing after a night of pillaging and plundering. It takes place on Sunday mornings in a junkyard, among the remains of disemboweled taxicabs and assorted automobile parts rusting outside the front office.
Hester looking out over the junkyard
Throughout the night, people come and go, including former Veterans and Arrow drivers like Marty, Austin, Ben “I got nothing to live for!” Valis and Trevor Fucker. Mingling in the crowd is Other Larry (aka Early Morning Larry), Mathias (“a feast of rats upon you”), Steven, Willie, Byron and Glover, the only taxi driver who gets a pass for switching to Uber because he’s probably driven a cab longer than anyone else and justifies his betrayal with, “It’s all about the money, baby!”
Marty, Late Night Larry and me
Read the rest of this week’s column.
Photos by Irina from the SF Hackers one year anniversary barbecue
For more photos from the shindig, click here.
I Drive S.F. 