what the cab driver knew

is it me or does everyone hale crazyfantasticmystical cab drivers every time they need a ride? tonights was a shaman of the yaqui tradition. an old white man with choppy silver hair who wore a tiny skull for a ring. his wife was yaqui and she died last year giving birth to their child, who also died. she was a heroin addict whom he met at mardi gras sometime back in the 70's. he told me he was a healer and i asked him, being funny, if he drove cabs in between healings? very seriously he answered that the greatest healings took place in the cab. people needing someone to just listen to them, and through listening, he said, he helped them to hear themselves. and so as he pulled up to my hotel (am in st. paul tonight, performed last night at macalister college) i asked him for a healing. he told me that the source of my problem was that i am agitated. meditate, he said. and i laughed, thanked him, tipped $10 and and came to my room with the intention of following his instructions, but ended up watching ice skating instead...more later...cbell