Stop Being Douchebags? Yes They Can

On this historic day I thought I should write a little post about my man Obama, who's triumph over the snowmobiles of fear and the moosehunters of ignorance has managed to crack through even the opaque walls of the occasional Kim. While there has been no partying in the streets a la European Cities, my somnambulist colleagues actually acknowledged that something more important than extra sides of Kimchi was happening today.

In fact, I have noticed a marked increase in positivity coming from a traditionally sour source, the Korean cab driver. Most of our readers know that cab drivers have been the bane of many an otherwise pleasant evening here in Seoul. They are ill-tempered assholes who behave more like mutinous indentured servants than people who are actually getting paid. ("Turn the car around on this empty street?? Fuck no - Get the hell out of my cab!"). They also tend to be racist bastards who refuse to pick up white folk like me unless we sport a nice looking suit, and even then prospects are grim.

But since November 2008, I am pleased to say that many cab drivers can't stop talking about America and Barack Obama. These days it is not unusual to be welcomed into a cab with the a brief exchange about where I am from, followed by "America - very good. Barack Obama, yes we can!" Or something like that. After 8 years of being embarrassed and defensive, I'm once again proud to tell the cabbies I'm from America, and they too are proud to be alive in this moment in history. So kudos to you America, and to you too, cab-drivin Kims. You cats are alright.

Now please turn left at this intersection. "Turn left? Hell no! Get the fuck out of my cab..."