"You don't want to get in a cab smelling bad," says Marshall Lane, Montgomery's oldest taxi driver. "I am the only cab driver dressed professionally 7 days a week. I wear a suit and a necktie." At 64 Marshall has been through a lot of firsts "My company was the first black owned cab company in Montgomery. I am the first black cabbie to be allowed to pick up at the airport and the first to have A/C in my cab." Marshall saved Freedom Riders by taking them to the hospital in a cab after they were attacked in Montgomery. Living through race riots and segregation, Marshall says all that does not bother him. "In my cab, race never meant anything to me, because money is always green."
When not driving Marshall likes to watch Samford and Sons. "It is still on TV in Montgomery. Every chance I get I want to look at it."
Wow how the days go by....Suwanee, Madison, Montgomery, Gallatin. Pulled into Montgomery on last Wednesday night and ended up at the Railyard drinking a nicely made Montgomerian IPA and a burger. On tv were probably 2 of the worst teams in the NBA, so obviously there were things better at the bar to talk about. I met two guys who work at a junk yard and they invited me over the next day. I threw a hard hat on my head and met people junking 20 fridges at a time, and getting $3 per pound for copper, 55 cents per pound for aluminum radiators, and 45 cents per pound for sheet metal. Some of it stripped out of foreclosed houses and some found the old fashion way. Multiple junkers told me that they suspect up to 70% of it is stolen. Who knows but the more that junk is worth, the more a broken iron or tv is worth more than the walk to the curb. Did everyone realize that Sanford was a also a junk dealer? It all goes together.
Another example of things cast off that have found new use are the amazing movie theaters on the tour, the Capri in Montgomery and the Palace in Gallatin remind you that for a long time the local cinema was a temple to the moving image.
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