I love New York taxis, except for the part where the driver tells me that Mossad was behind the September...

I love New York taxis, except for the part where the driver tells me that Mossad was behind the September 11th attacks. That, and sudden braking, swerving and jerky driving that makes me bang my head against the plastic partitition. A friend of mine is a particularly smooth driver, and told me how he learned. The instructor gets into the car with a shallow salad bowl, into which he places a tennis ball. The goal of the pupil is to anticipate turns and changes in speed so that the ball never makes it over the edge. Next time I'm in a New York taxi, I'm going to whip out the salad bowl, the tennis ball. And if the driver fails the test, he can forget about a tip.