WGN Morning News Blog

So we were coming home after the Cubs game on Saturday, which by the way, was a great day at the ballpark since they won, and we hailed a cab on Addison. First clue this cab ride would be like no other: the driver had his wife or lady friend with him. But I really wanted to get home so my husband and I just got in. We tell THEM where we are going and right when the taxi driver says he was on his way home but...my husband and I see the bird. A real bird, a parakeet to be exact. And not a small bird, I would say medium size, not in a cage, sitting free as a bird (no pun intended) on the steering wheel.

I quickly offered to get out, taking advantage of the fact that the cab driver wanted to go home, but his wife said they had a half hour of work left. That led me to believe this was his wife because a girlfriend would have rather have him go home with her to snuggle, where as wives we work them until the end. But I digress.

So my husband and I are stuck in a hot and smelly (yes, smelly) cab with a couple and a wild bird. The woman spent half the ride urging the animal to "Say hello" to us and went as far as putting the bird on the partisian so we could see it better. I actually think she wanted us to put our finger out and let it come to us. No way Jose, I might have been born on an island, but I like my wild life in the wild, far away from me.

When the bird would not respond to her commands, she started playing with it and kissing it and passing it over to the driver. He would put it on the steering wheel and coo at it as if it were a child. All this while he navigated 4PM traffic on LSD, as if we were on a boat on the lake. When she was holding the green and yellow parakeet, he would sing to it in his native language, interrupting only to curse at the other drivers as only a cab driver knows how to.

Our wild and feathery trip was prolonged by traffic. We had to take the Inner Drive and my husband kept suggesting streets where we could get off and walk home. But my feet are holding a lot more weight than they are used to these day, what with being eight and half months pregnant and all, I had already taken the train to the game, walked up and down the stairs at Wrigley and went to a bar afterwards where I couldn't drink, all for my lovely husband, so needless to say I wanted at the door drop off.

We made it home unscathed but emotionally scarred. I've taken my fair share of cab rides in Chicago and they are always challenging. I've even been asked to get out of the cab because the driver didn't want to take me to a certain neighborhood since he wouldn't score a ride back. I've almost driven the car myself when I get those cab drivers that don't know where they are going. But to share my cab with a wild bird, now that was a first.

Just thought I shared.