Raw footage for "Chicago Slices," a series documenting life in and around Chicago. This video is a continuation of a drive with Yogi Ward, a cab driver and DJ, who drives and entertains in his incredibly decorated cab. Yogi takes us to his hangout, Eppel's Restaurant, his car wash, and to the Checker Taxi Association office.
00:00Copy video clip URL Inside the cab outside River West Plaza, Yogi talks on his cab radio, then gets out of the car.
02:30Copy video clip URL Yogi enters Eppel’s Restaurant at 554 W Roosevelt in the South Loop and introduces the restaurant owners and the waitress, Jeanette. She says that she treats Yogi well, and then Yogi introduces another waitress, Sue, who hurriedly passes by.
04:30Copy video clip URL Yogi talks with one of his colleagues, who is sitting at a booth at Eppel’s. He says Yogi is a good guy and has a sense of humor, but otherwise has very little to say. They walk back out of the restaurant to his cab.
06:30Copy video clip URL Back in the cab, Yogi drives and talks on his cell phone. He explains that he is going to the Checker garage to pay up his fees. Yogi says that people often don’t believe that cab drivers are human, but they are.
09:11Copy video clip URL Inside the garage, Yogi introduces the crew at the car wash and then goes inside the office. The man behind the glass window is not interested in talking. Yogi comments that a lot of people don’t want to be taped, which seems suspicious to him.
12:23Copy video clip URL Now in his office, Yogi’s boss, John, says Yogi is a nice guy who likes to be in the media spotlight. He says that they get no complaints from customers and he does ok as long as he pays his bills on time. He goes on to talk about how Yogi is the owner of his car, and how he and Yogi are associated, but Yogi has the option to go elsewhere. He says that Yogi is a good representative of the association. John also talks about the difference between a company and an association (Checker Cab is an association).
17:20Copy video clip URL John says that Yogi sometimes takes on more than he can handle, explaining that most of Yogi’s routes are mapped out ahead of time, and he may overbook himself at times. John then takes a phone call.
19:15Copy video clip URL Cut to another part of the office, where John explains how the system works and what they do when a driver has problems, such as when they’re late on payments. He then talks about the public relations work that Mr. Moberg has done for the company, how they’ve diversified the ethnicities of their drivers, how they have regular meetings to discuss mutual concerns, and the production of their monthly newsletter. John picks up the newsletter, and tells a story about a driver who delivered a baby in his cab.
25:37Copy video clip URL Yogi walks out of the office, and briefly says that he’s related to Michael Jordan. They walk back to the car wash and talk with Larry, who agrees that Yogi is a good customer and he has a “crazy cab.”
28:55Copy video clip URL Back in the cab, Yogi calls his friends on the cab radio. He then gets on the microphone and does some more DJ work as he drives. They then talk about the editing process and air time for the episode, after which Yogi listens to his voicemail on speakerphone.
36:32Copy video clip URL Yogi drives up to the detail shop, and introduces his detail guys. One of them says that Yogi is a great customer who comes a couple times a week. Yogi continues driving, listening to his messages, and making phone calls.
43:00Copy video clip URL They drive through Lower Wacker Drive, and Yogi’s Christmas lights show up in the back of the car. He talks about his daily trip to the bank at the Tribune Towers, saying that he likes it because the people are really sharp, nice people.
45:35Copy video clip URL Yogi picks up the microphone and wraps up the tape while Sinatra’s “My Kind of Town” plays in the background.
48:24Copy video clip URL End of tape.
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