April 5, 2018
Welcome to another program of “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County
Historical Society.
Today’s
story is about Ed “Slim” Winzeler the man who was behind the wheel of Yellow
Cab Number 35. Slim often drove with a
pipe in his mouth and wore a checkered hunter’s cap on his head.
When he was
not working you could find him sitting in the main office at 112 W. Ninth
Street listening to the scanner at the main desk. If not there, he might be
found cruising past Montgomery Ward’s, Wal-Mart, Dillon’s or Safeway. He stated that he doesn’t drive a cab for the
money, “but for something to do. If I’d
quit – I’d go crazy.”
Winzeler
drove trucks for the U.S. Army for 17 years while stationed overseas or at Fort
Riley. He also drove trucks as a Civil
Servant. In 1967, he began working for Yellow
Cab, which at one time had been Dime-N-Taxi. He worked 11-12 hours a day with the taxi
service, which had 14 cabs running 24 hours a day. Unlike the taxi stories one hears about in
big cities, Winzeler’s workday was usually calm and crime-free.
Sometimes if
people can’t pay, they will give me their watch until they can. He said, “One time a girl gave him her coat
to keep until she could pay him the following day.”
There was a
$1.00 a mile rate.
Winzeler was
paid by commission and preferred driving in order to get more customers over a
shorter period of time. He shared that
some customers share their stories with him.
He stated that “They’ll talk about weather, wives and kids and sometimes
they’ll talk about their problems. Don’t
get me wrong, I don’t ask. They just
tell me. I just listen and say yeah, yeah.
I don’t get involved, but try to be polite.”
It seems
that there are fewer cabs in town since the A.T.A. Bus service has come to
service those who need transportation - at least that is your host’s observation. Well… thanks for reading today to “Our Past
Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.
No comments:
Post a Comment