Friday, September 30, 2016

Courier of Death


I got a call this afternoon to pick up a gentleman at his apartment near the downtown area. When I arrived, the parking lot was exceptionally cramped and I was barely able to wedge my cab into one of the parking spots.

I've grown to dread picking up folks at apartments. I get quite a few of those calls and invariably the address is hard to find and the person who called for the cab is never outside waiting. I usually end up wandering around the complex looking for them. This call was no different.

I waited for awhile and then got out of the cab and walked over to the door of the apartment where the customer lived and I knocked. The door opened and a pleasant older man answered it and greeted me. He came out and we walked over to the cab, got in and took off for his destination in downtown Salem.

"What's your story?" I asked him after we had exchanged a little small talk. "What's my story? What do you mean?" he replied. I smiled and said, "I mean everyone has a story to tell about their life, what's yours?"

That was the first time I had ever used that line with a customer and I wasn't sure how he was going to react. He warmed up immediately and told me that he was a Vietnam vet and that he was also an actor. "I was the lead actor in a feature film - a 'B' movie." he told me quite proudly. "Get back, Jack!" I laughed. "Are you serious?" "It's true," he said. "I was the lead actor in a movie called 'Courier of Death.'"

I told him that I would look up the movie on the internet when I got home and we went on with the ride. I took him to a business downtown and then back to his apartment and dropped him off.

I looked up the movie later on Google and sure enough, there he was. He was in his 30's when he filmed it back in the 1980's and yes, it's definitely a "B" movie. So, ladies and gentleman, I present my new friend Joey Johnson and his 1984 film debut in "Courier of Death."



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