05/15/14

This is more information concerning the case against Yellow Cab and Abraham Lembarra:

City seeks suspension, fine for taxi driver accused of verbally abusing women.

And yes, this has been ongoing for 10 days now...if you're keeping track.

There's also this post on iHollaback.org, which is an amazing forum to stop street harassment!

Amber's story

05/08/14

As a follow up to the experience I, and as we have found out many others, have gone through this amazing man and his friend did some research and have since posted this:

Meet Yellow Cab, the company (and its owner) behind the harassment claims

Again, I cannot express how much I appreciate all of the support, re-posting, linking, research, and positive comments that we all have received...I love you.

05/03/14

I worked brunch today.  It’s been a rough week, but the time has come to have a talk with my best friend.  One on one.  So grab yourself a drink and let’s sit outside so I can explain to you how it made me feel…for realz.  And yea, there were tears and real words and apologies and tough love talk and finally, in the end, a hug.  

But this isn’t a story of that, because well, you know I share a lot, but sometimes you just have to keep that inside…this is a story of what happened to both of us after we hugged.  After we had worked things out.  After we had shared a moment in life that made us both understand that we still love each other.  

This is a story of that time when a cab driver pulled up to the curb right in front of where we were standing outside of the restaurant.  That part isn’t odd, because it’s a restaurant and a ton of people get dropped off at the front door.  The “odd” part was…careful, there are a lot of swear words and inappropriate connotations that will now happen, so if you have issues with that STOP READING THIS!  Right MEOW!!  …the driver of said taxi cab (Yellow Cab:  http://www.maineyellowcab.com/home.html) rolled down the passenger side window and yelled out to us, “Hey ladies!”.  We both looked over assuming he was going to ask us a question…maybe he’s lost?  Maybe he needs to know if said restaurant is still serving food?  Maybe.  But nope.  Here is what he said:  “Ladies!  So, this guy (points to the passenger), it’s his birthday today and I told him I would find him some nice girls for his birthday!”  My best friend, being who she is responds immediately with, “Well, too bad for him.  We’re not nice.”  Meanwhile, Amber has immediately been thrust into the ear ringing, adrenaline pumping, red rage and stands there staring…dumbfounded.  He laughs and says, “All the better!  Come on!  It’s his birthday!!”  Of course the passenger and his two friends in the back laugh and clap…so, I say, “Drive on.  Now.”  He doesn’t and proceeds to say, “WHAT?!  What’s wrong with you?  Just get in.  Have some fun!”  
And that is when I slowly walk to the cab trying desperately to set it on fire with my mind.  My first thought is, well, I do have this lit cigarette in my hand and I could very easily just toss it into the cab…hopefully right onto someone’s lap…so it would burn…through…his pants…his crotch…because obviously this guy should not be allowed to own his man parts.  Instead I lean over into the window, real close to “birthday boy” and say in the tone my mum uses the statement “I’m very disappointed in you”, “Drive on now before it gets ugly.  You’re on dangerous ground right now.”  The driver laughs and says to me, “Ooooooo!  Do that again!  Your angry face is f*cking hot!”  WHAT??!!  
“Drive NOW.”  
“Oh, baby!  Yea!  Do it again!!!”  
“Right.”  I pull out my phone and record the phone number to Yellow Cab (207-518-3563) and calmly ask him his name.
“Why you need my name?  You gonna call me?  Just get in!”
“Name.  Now.”
“John.  HAHAHAHAHA!  It’s John you miserable c*nt”  Good luck with being awful to everyone in your life.  I’m sure it’ll get you far in life, b*tch.”

…So.  Yea.  You guys know me well enough that with those words spewing out of his mouth I wanted to rip the roof off the cab, grab him by the throat and hurl him into oncoming traffic…unfortunately, I have not perfected my superpowers (yet).  He drove.  This is also why I am not allowed to own any form of firearm, because I would have taken care of this leech on society.  Instead I said, “F*ck you, you misogynistic pig.”

That’s when I dialed the number for the cab company in order to file a complaint, because that’s what adults do!  In my younger days I prolly would have chased after the cab punched it and/or kicked it resulting in only hurting myself in the process…so, I make a phone call.  

“Yellow Cab.”
“Hi, I would like to file a formal complaint against one of your drivers please.”  …see??  All nice and professional!
“Sure!  Hold on a minute, let me get a pen.  Can you tell me his name?”
“Yes, John.”
“Oh!  John!  Yes, I know him!  Can you give me the fleet number and license plate number?”
“No, unfortunately I can’t, but he’s heading towards St. John street on Congress with 3 male passengers.”
“Hmmmm…well if you don’t have a taxi number or plate number there isn’t much I can do.”
“Uhm.  Ok.  I would still like to file the complaint.”
“OH!  SURE!  Tell me what happened! …and why you’re so angry!”

As a side note, this should have been the first hint that something was off…well that and the fact that the “dispatcher” sounded oddly like the cab driver.  

So, I proceed to tell him the story.

“Oh, that’s a very good story!  No wonder you’re so upset!  Because you’re a miserable bitch and you want to make everyone around you just as miserable so you can make yourself feel better.  You skinny whore.  No wonder you don’t have a boyfriend!  You know I would date you, but I don’t like skinny ass c*nts!  You know what you should do??  You should drive to the grocery store right now.  No seriously, right now and buy a zucchini because that’s the only way you’re ever gonna get any!”

“Okay.  Wow.  I need your name now, I guess.”

“F*ck off c*nt.  Go to the store.  Get a zucchini and make sure it’s the smallest one you can find, because your p*ssy is small.”

NOTE:  I almost started laughing because a. The situation was too ridiculous to be happening and b. Uhmmmmm…wait…isn’t that a good thing?!  ANYWAY…

“Alright.  I just want you to know that I will make sure everyone I know is privy to this situation and not to use Yellow Cab ever.”

“Ok whore.  Wait.  You have a television show??  What are you a rich white b*tch with connections?!  How are you going to do that??  Yellow Cab is EVERYWHERE!  We’re viral c*nt!  You can’t do anything about this!!  Go f*ck yourself with that zucchini!!”

“And now I am going to call the police on you.  Thank you.”

“Yea.  Go call the cops b*tch!  You can’t do anything about this you angry, miserable b*tch!!”

[CLICK]
…dial cops.
The rest of the story is rather uneventful.  I ran inside to let my boss know what happened and that the cops were going to show up, but that I would ask them to pull around the corner to speak with them because, hey, it’s his restaurant.  I spoke with the police and they said they would try and find this guy and “give him a talkin’ to”…whatever that means.

So this is me filing my formal complaint against Yellow Cab.  You can share this with everyone.  Please.  No one needs this scumbag driving around.  And yes, I do remember what you look like, so you should proceed with caution because I will now make sure I have mace on me at all times.

03/17/14

Night terrors.  Lemme tell you; explain to you, what these are and why she is so very volatile afterwards.  A human has a “dream” and while many of you think dreams are nice and stuffs and it’s the nightmares you should stay away from, some of us have terrors.  It’s a nightmare times 1000!  It’s the thing that when you try to run, you actually do in your sleep and then the thing that is chasing you catches up and you fight it…in your sleep and in real life.  It’s the moment when you “wake up” and punch and kick and smack your hand against the wall and then say…”I’m awake, it’s ok”…but YOU’RE NOT!  Nope.  It’s that moment when you scream “WAKE ME UP!  Please.  Please, wake me up”.  But the person that you are snuggling with doesn’t understand, so your subconscious tells them out loud that it’s ok…it’s ok…it’s ok…but wait!  It’s not!  Because then all of a sudden you’re back in the terror even though you were sitting up and your eyes were open.  It’s remembering EVERYTHING.  Every detail of the terror.  And you keep it with you, always.  The action figures on the windshield, the writing on the windows, the driving down a cliff, the guy with the chainsaw, the small room without any escape, the shoving your fist through the wall to make an opening, the witnessing of acts that kill your soul.  It stays with you.  So, yes, when she wakes up from them the last thing you want to do is to push her away, because she’s still there.  In that moment.  And it will take at least a 1/2 hour to get her out of it…because if you let her fall back asleep…BOOM!  Again.  Over and over.  And these are the terrors.  Maybe it’s because we can’t deal with stuff emotionally, so our brain decides to deal with it on it’s own.  Maybe it’s because we can’t talk about things that are hurting us…because we’re so great on the outside…nobody wants to see the demons inside.  Ever.  Either way, yes, she will become vehement, volatile, violent, then…sad, uncaring, vulnerable…all of these things.  So, take care.  Just grab onto them and hold them, because it probably has nothing to do with you and you’re halping.  Promise.  Hold on.  

1/21/14

I am breaking up with you.  I feel as if you have another interest on your mind.  There are small hints, like when we all go out to dinner or drinks together you seem to look at her face more than mine.  Or those times when I’m in the middle of a story and she speaks up and tells you a funny joke or shows you a witty photograph or tells you that you and her should go someplace else.  All those mornings we’re having coffee together and she can’t stop talking to you.  Or those nights when she just appears in your bedroom and informs me that she has something to tell you that’s more important.  Of course there are the mornings that I wake up and see that you’re awake but have decided to snuggle with her instead.  Instead of rolling over and holding me you choose to hold and gawk at her.  Who the hell let her in here anyway?!  Those moments when we’re working and instead of conversing with me or helping me you choose to talk with her.  Endlessly.  Those nights when I’m having a cigarette to decompress from work and you appear beside me.  With her.  The stars are beautiful tonight…don’t you…think?  Uhmmmm.  Hello?  Oh.  Yea.  I see you’re preoccupied because she’s so gosh darn interesting.  Those times in the car when we could be singing our hearts out, but I feel the need to turn the radio down because you are having interactions with her.  So yea, small hints.  Like she’s always around and you can’t seem to get enough of her.  So this is good-bye.  I’m breaking up with you(r) (phone).  

1/16/14

Say what you want; want what you say!


It’s the age of the internet and yes, sometimes you get to hang out your best friends and talk about all of the things and stuff.  Sometimes though, you have that moment when you’re at your dining room table…please notice that I do know the difference between “you’re” and “your”…HOLLAH!!  …alone.  All day.  And you’ve done laundry and dishes and vacuumed and tossed approximately six articles of clothing and…you realize you’re writing this with a very delicate pen, but you have a heavy hand and it’s not even YOUR’S!!!!  Bai pen!  Wait…SQUIRREL!  Uhmmmm…

So you’re there and think, “whassit?  Do you care?  Am I what you need?  Do you have what I need?  Will you be there when, later, shit hits the fan?!”  I have a lump in my right breast.  I’ve had one before and it turned out to be a fibroses tissue (sack).  NBD.  They did an ultrasound and it was inconclusive, so Panda had to have a mammogram, and let me tell you…OUCH!  M’Fer!!!  Ouch!  Who wants their breast smooshed between two steel plates??!!  So, it’s fine!  That time was fine, as I’m sure this time will be fine too.
But it’s different.  That time I had someone.  A constant.  Someone who was there.  This time I have me.  Only me.  So I decided to make it public.  Selfishly, because I need you.  All of you.
And what shocked me is that within seconds I had you.  All of you.  Concern, love, prayers, and [CRUSH](es).  And so many text messages.  So.  Many.  I realized that I’m not alone.  No, I don’t have a life-partner per say, but you have now become that to me.
Annnnnnd…my point?
SAY IT (type it/photograph it)!! Social media is there for a reason and you need to use it to your advantage once in awhile!  Yes, post your happy moments, but also realize that there is an untapped fountain of support for you if you need it.  Instagram, Twitter, FaceBook, whatever!  Just use it.  You need it.  And when you’re done, I need you…in human form.

On a completely different subject, one in which I have touched on before; speak up.  Last night when I was working, I had two instances of “Imma flirt with you.”  One I had no idea about until I was closing out the credit cards (at 2am), the other I knew about immediately.  So here’s my question:  If you feel something, why would you write a note on a credit card receipt and why in the world would you expect your bartender to remember who you were??!!  So this human has now given me his phone number in the hopes that I will just randomly call him?!  Is that a compliment?  The second instance was 6 guys, who all work in the service industry.  When they were leaving one of them leaned over the bar and asked me if he could tell me something.  I told him, “sure?”…and, “You’re amazingly beautiful and you have awesome taste in music!  I just wanted you to know.”  Then he walked out.  BAM!  Thank you.  HEARD!  So take from this mini-rant what you will, but know that most humans need to hear what you are thinking and if you want to compliment someone, DO IT!  Out loud!

10/24/13

Here are some things that came outta your face last night:

1. You are too unbelievably cute.
2. Just make her smile; you’ll see what I mean.
3. Will you marry me?
4. You’re messing with the wrong woman.
5. This girl is magical.  Be careful.
6. The only way you’ll get my shirt is if it’s lying on your floor.
7. I knew I liked you, but now I think I actually love you.
8. Our baby would be amazing!  He would be a linebacker!!  I mean a tight-end…I mean…shit.
9. We actually need YOU.
10. I just tried to be mean to you, but it’s impossible for me!
11. You can bulldozer over me anytime… 
12. AMBER!!!!
13. PANDA!!!!!!!
14. You could serve me anything and I would drink it.
15. I love you.  Seriously.
16. Holy shit, dude!  You almost just got an elbow in your face!
17. Forever.

Here are some things that came outta my face last night:

1. Awwwwww, silly!
2. (snarf)…and smile and smile and smile…
3. Yes.
4. HA!  (nod and nod and nod)
5. [stares into distance trying to suppress anger at that other guy]
6. OOOOOKAY!  Wait.  WHA??!!
7. Tssssss.  Oh.  You’re serious…uhmmm…I love you too(?)
8. WHOA.  We’re having babies?!
9. GUYS!  Cm’on!  You know what I mean!
10. HA-HA!  Gotcha!
11. …[confused look]…
12. AMBER!!!!!!
13. PANDA!!!!!!!!
14. Alrighty then!
15. …I love you too(?)…
16. This elbow looks even better close up!
17. (and hug and hug and hug and hug)

As a side note, ye’all are lucky that I actually know you and that I do actually love you, otherwise there might have been quite a bloody mess to clean up.