2 A.M.: Bars closing — time to call in the taxi

The clock strikes 2 a.m., closing the bars in Mount Pleasant and calling in the taxi cabs.

An hour with Chippewa Cab Driver Timothy Jackson covers an assortment of clientele and all of town, from the Soaring Eagle Casino, 6800 Soaring Eagle Blvd., to the Wayside, 2000 S. Mission St., and everything in between.

Local cabs generally work on a dispatch basis. At night, when dispatches slow down, cab drivers know it is time to head to the bars.

“It’s like the best way of transport up here,” said 2007 alumna Jessie Beannick. “Either $2 or $2,000, if you wanna drive.”

Jackson has many interesting stories from working in a college town.

A cold night last winter, he had two girls offer to flash him or kiss him for a ride. He told them he would rather have the money, but another man walking buy paid the girls the $5 they needed for a cab ride.

“There’s people that’ll do anything for a ride — just odd things, and then people will buy food for you and take you to drive-thrus,” Jackson said.

One student who Jackson has not picked up is his daughter — a Central Michigan University sophomore.

“She doesn’t want to be seen with me — or I don’t know, but she’s never called,” Jackson said.

When Jackson finishes his eight-hour shift, it will be 6 a.m., and he will have added more stories to his large collection.

“It’s an interesting job,” he said.