Oleg Roitman

So we got into a cab and our cab driver turned out to be this guy. He is from Ukraine and tell him your birthday please, and he will tell you what day of week you were born. Tuesday! Also lots of jokes about how "you get married? One more prisoner of war!" I asked him if he meant men and women both and he said "only men" and I asked him who does the dishes in his house.

A few years ago, the New York Times wrote an article about him, which he has plaque-mounted in the cab, and he makes you read in its entirety (don't worry, you have time - he tends to take the long route).

In the time that I moved to New York, cabbies have been forced to accept payment with credit / debit cards and to put tv screens in the back of cabs, both of which they protested. Well, this guy's cab has no tv and he complained when friend tried to pay with a credit card, so we paid cash instead. He also asked us for way more than our fare, and when we only left him a 20% tip he yelled "Fine, next time don't take my cab! Ride with stupid regular cab driver instead!" Hm. Awkward.

Here's the most priceless part, however. He has a website (just a link to his NYTimes article, actually) and it is: www.geocities.com/mentalmathandcatlover/taxi.html.