Weird cryptic comment from cabbie

[McAvennie]

My cabbie last night was a guy who has driven me quite a few times. He's middle eastern, not sure whereabouts, and is your constant yabber-yabber style cabbie.

Anyway last night he was jabbering on about people driving too slow and people he knew from my office. We got onto the Marylebone Road just before the underpass at the intersection with Tottenham Court Road.
There is a lot of glass buildings round there and he started on at how I should invest in glass companies.
What he said next creeped me out quite a bit...

'One day a wind will come here that will break all this glass. This glass won't protect these buildings...and I can tell you the exact date it will come'

I thought this was a weird thing to say, fair enough if he has crazy weather fever from watching the Florida storms but who can seriously pinpoint an exact date of a massive hurricane hitting mainland Europe!?!?

I said that I worked in a glass building and hoped I wasn't working that day and when it would be....silence. I gave it about 30 seconds and asked again 'So what date is this going to happen then?'...again silence.

About a minute passed and he starts chuckling and mutters to himself 'The friendship is broken'!?!?!

About a minute or two later he asks what time my train is and stats yabbering away like nothing happened. I was slightly weirded out, mainly because London is long overdue a terror attack and I remember shortly after 9/11 a threat coming from Al-Qaeda warning of their next atrocity being 'the black wind of death'.

!!??!!

 

[Beakmoo]

You aren't making this up are you? :eek!!!!: This actually happened to you?
I don't mean to cast nasturtiums or anything, but it is an urban legend. I'm quite creeped out by this myself.
Of course, the driver may also have heard the urban legend and was messing with your head.

 

[Cavynaut]

Nothing to worry about.

I work with a few Middle Eastern blokes and they are all quite prone to making pseudo-apocalyptic statements. They all seem quite fatalistic, maybe it's something to do with Islam. Of course, your cabbie might not have been a Muslim, in which case, invest in a double glazing company.

 

[Anonymous]

woahh

Who knows if it means anything or not....the dude could be a terrorist, a weirdo..or maybe just someone who thought he was being funny. Either way..it is sort of disturbing.

 

[Stormkhan]

It might also have been his suggestion that the design of glass buildings is silly if "big winds" come such as gales etc. and it came out as a portentious warning.
Poor communication skills can result in misunderstandings.

 

[carole]

. . . and people in glass builidngs shouldn't throw stones . . .

Carole

 

[McAvennie]

It might also have been his suggestion that the design of glass buildings is silly if "big winds" come such as gales etc. and it came out as a portentious warning.
Poor communication skills can result in misunderstandings.

I think that was what he meant I just found it weird that he told me that he knew the exact date it would happen but then just said nothing at all when I asked when it would be.

Who knows. If stuff happens it happens you just have to hope you aren't there when it does or that you ae strong enough to survive.

I am surprised nothing has happened yet in London. Don't know whether that is because of London's defence systems or because the terrorists haven't got round to us yet?

 

[wembley8]

"I just found it weird that he told me that he knew the exact date it would happen but then just said nothing at all when I asked when it would be."

No, that was what made it believable. You called his bluff; he can hardly state a date without being proved wrong when it comes round. This way it stays eerie and mysterious forever.

Wonder how many fares he has to tell that to in order to get a good UL going? (Or boost shares in Pilkington).

But if you want to be paranoid, even a fairly modest fuel-air/therombaric device could break glass over a very wide radius indeed...

 

[CygnusRex]

I thought this sounded familiar, I found a UL on the snopes site that has a very similar feel

Strangers Warning

Not in any way saying thats where you got it from McAvennie, just it has the same ring to it

 

[Stormkhan]

I am surprised nothing has happened yet in London. Don't know whether that is because of London's defence systems or because the terrorists haven't got round to us yet?

It's because with all the recent publicity surrounding our police and security blunders, the terrorists are laughing too much, waiting to offer them some kind of challenge.

Seriously, though, it may be because our experience with the IRA, coupled with a high reputation for intelligence gathering, makes us a hard target. It doesn't matter that the Irish terrorism is a different type of threat.
Bombing and kidnapping civilians and children is easier in a poor country where feelings are running high and the infrastructure is a mess. Exploitation of a horrid situation is the hallmark of cunning but immoral minds.

Throw people into a swamp and some of the mud is bound to stick.

 

[Tyger_Lily]

Did anyone ever get the email about the man warning people to stay away from Angus Steak Houses? This one is true though, honest...

It was the same kinda thing as the Snopes UL but the Arab man in question warns the good samaritan to stay away from that chain of restuarants.

Why? Will there be an attack? No, the food is crap, the prices are astronomical and there is a poor selection of sweets.

ABSOLUTELY TRUE!

 

[MrSnowman]

Did anyone ever get the email about the man warning people to stay away from Angus Steak Houses? This one is true though, honest...

It was the same kinda thing as the Snopes UL but the Arab man in question warns the good samaritan to stay away from that chain of restuarants.

Why? Will there be an attack? No, the food is crap, the prices are astronomical and there is a poor selection of sweets.

ABSOLUTELY TRUE!

I beg to differ.. Their tomato salads are great. Just a big plate... with loads of tomatoes... oh HEAVEN!

 

[ted_bloody_maul]

off-thread, i know, but i give credibility to the steak house rumours. i've believed for a number of years now that the myriad aberdeen/angus steakhouses in central london are covering a network of tunnels to be used by american holidaymakers when the apocalypse comes. what's the difference between the aberdeen and angus steakhouses, anyway? they have the same menu, the same decor and are usually across the street from each other. and usually empty. i find it all very sinister. really. i'm confused by all this, much more so than by science or cricket.

 

[Mythopoeika]

Yes, that's funny. I'd noticed how they always seem to be empty.
How do they stay in business?

 

[elffriend]

I beg to differ.. Their tomato salads are great. Just a big plate... with loads of tomatoes... oh HEAVEN!

You've actually been in one You must be very brave Mr Snowman.

 

[Heckler]

Yes, that's funny. I'd noticed how they always seem to be empty.
How do they stay in business?

I always assumed that the living dead domiciled in London used the Angus/Aberdeen Steak House chain as a disguise for the fact that they couldn't eat. The food when you glance in the window at the hollow eyed inhabitants always looks plastic and inedible.

 

[ted_bloody_maul]

seriously, i can't work out the difference between them. are they owned by different people or something? i really need to know.

 

[lemonpie3]

ted, mate, it's one of the mysteries of the universe. probably if you ever found out you'd get a knock on the door in the middle of the night.

for the record, i have been in one. where else can you think of that does a coke float?! green paper napkins, beige stoneware crockery with brown trim, dark green placemats with gold trim (the rectangular ones with rounded corners and a cork back), a sweet trolley - yes trolley! on wheels!, pictures of cows on the walls, and the best bit, oh i loved this, a portrait of her maj, good queen Elizabeth II god bless 'er soul.

excruciatingly expensive. i recommend you go in, look at the table settings, sweet trolley and portraits and then leave.

 

[ted_bloody_maul]

the portrait of the queen you mention - was there anything suspicious about it (moving eyes, reptilian skin etc)?

honestly, this *revelation* (yes, i know) just makes me more nervous.

 

[Anonymous]

Went into a steak house near Victoria station the other day.

Sirloin steak at under £11 ! Yes we'll have two please. Bill comes to £38 ??

They for got to tell us that the £11 was just for the steak, the chips were an extra £2.70, the soft drinks were £2.80, there was a 90pence per head charge as well. AND THEN they add the VAT!!

Needless to say, we left no tip!

 

[Leaferne]

Bloody hell, lutzie, is that legal?!

Re: thread topic--my bf owns a cab and he gets plenty of cryptic comments from passengers, so I suppose it evens out in the end.

 

[Stormkhan]

Just across the road from Chez Stormkhan is an El Gaucho restaurant - the steaks are quite expensive but they are fantastic! You get chips, salad etc. only if you ask for them - at no extra charge - and the steaks are thick, juicy, cooked exactly the way you want, and almost cover the plate!

I remain an unrepentant meat-eater!
:yeay:

 

[Anonymous]

Bloody hell, lutzie, is that legal?!

At times like this I wonder if I am on anyones ignore list. Because if I am, they'll have to unignore me to find out what was legal.

Such fun!

But really, I must start going out into the real world again

 

[RainyOcean]

Isn't it possible that this taxi driver had untreated schizophrenia or some other disorder?