Waiting for a taxi in the middle of California

Back in the late 1980s, when my oldest son was a teenager, he and his pals — one in particular — had a wonderful time in the summer following around the Grateful Dead.

They had a 1960s-vintage Volkswagen camper van that they’d fixed up and they drove it around the United States, going from concert to concert. They were “Deadheads.”

That was then. Now, my boy’s married. He owns a house in Riverdale and has a white-collar job in downtown Toronto — although he still wears a pony tail. You hold on to some things.

Several weeks ago, some of the surviving members of the Grateful Dead — the leader, Jerry Garcia, died in the 1990s — got together to play some concerts in California and Chicago. Called Fare Thee Well, the shows were billed as the last time those guys would play together. Naturally, my son and his friends had to attend.

They met up in San Francisco. The reunion included a 1971 VW van belonging to one of the guys who lives in Vancouver. Although they wanted to recreate the “Deadhead” experience as much as possible, some things do change and a big difference was where they slept — an Embassy Suites in San Rafael instead of the back of the bus.

The hotel was interesting in itself. The NASCAR Sprint Cup was racing at nearby Sonoma Raceway and some of the teams were staying there. Cultural differences became apparent one afternoon during the cocktail hour. My son helped himself to some hummus; one of the good ol’ boys found that to be “rather bold.”

Before going to the first of the farewell shows, my son and the others went to a smaller concert — promoted as being “Pre-Dead” — at the Sweetwater Music Hall & Café in Mill Valley, featuring West Coast musicians such as Jason Crosby (David’s son), Barry Sless and Pete Sears.

The venue was about 18 kilometres away from the hotel.

Not wanting to take the VW, they opted for a cab. There was traffic. The trip lasted 30 minutes and cost $40 plus tip. The driver said to call the company when the concert was over and somebody would come to collect them.

So around midnight, when the show let out, the boys (men, actually) started calling the taxi company and had a hard time getting through. So two of them at once gave it a shot — you never know — and one got through and was put on hold for what seemed a serious length of time.

I have no political position on Uber. I can’t remember the last time I took a cab

When the dispatcher answered, my son’s friend was so startled that he inadvertently gave the fellow an incorrect address (that can happen when you’re in a strange place) and that, then, started another round of calls in an attempt to straighten things out.

This had already taken 30 minutes or so and there was no end in sight. And no taxi had shown up, either.

So they did what millions of people around the world are doing. They signed up for Uber. It took a couple of minutes to do the “paperwork” and an Uber car was five minutes away. It picked them up and it cost them $22 plus tip to get taken back to the hotel.

It was not the last time they used that service. In fact, one time in Chicago, they connected with Uber and a taxi picked them up.

I have no political position on this controversy. I can’t remember the last time I took a cab and I haven’t signed up for Uber. But just about everybody else is, it seems.

As my late friend, Rae Corelli, Global TV’s very first anchor, said after introducing the very first story on that station’s very first newscast: “That might not be news — but it is reality.”