Marilyn and I were in the lobby of our hotel in Memphis. We had already called three cab companies, and even though each one of them assured us they would be there, after 45 minutes we were still waiting and waiting ...

Finally the hotel receptionist said, "Y'all still waiting?"

"Yes."

"Hold on. I'll get you someone."

About five minutes later, she surfaced with the maintenance man.

"This is Mitchell," she said. "He's gonna drop you off."

Mitchell walked ahead to his car to clean out the back seat.

Marilyn, who hails from San Francisco, hissed at me, "I don't know about this. Getting into a car with a strange man ... it just feels weird."

"It's OK, sweetie," I said. "This is the South,"

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