The cold-blooded shooting of cab driver Isidro Leonardo on Tuesday morning highlights the danger facing Plainfield cabbies every day.
My heartfelt sympathies go out to his wife, children and family, and to his fellow cabbies, who must worry every day about such random acts of violence.
I knew Isidro on a casual basis -- he and I often bumped into each other at the newsstand on my morning forays for the papers as he was getting a strong cup of coffee and maybe dropping off an early fare going to the laundromat next door.
Having lived in New York for many years, where many more kinds of folks are likely to use cabs than in the suburbs where having your own wheels is almost sine qua non, I was acutely aware of how dangerous a cabbie's life is.
Besides being stiffed for the fare, and having to deal with inebriated passengers who sometimes don't even know where they want to go, there is always that chance that someone will rob you at gunpoint, or even worse.
I am old enough -- and have lived in enough rough neighborhoods, to which Plainfield cannot even hold a candle -- to be inured of the gangstas murdering each other.
We all hate the violence, but to a certain extent it is part of the life these folks have bargained for, where drug turfs and points of honor can often enough lead to gunplay and even death between various 'sets'.
But shooting a man who is simply trying to make a living and give his family a better life in a new and perhaps strange country?
That enrages me.
Even though the cab companies may have established procedures for handling robberies, they are no defense against cold-blooded cowards with guns.
I certainly hope that if there are any witnesses, they will step forward. And I hope that the police and the Union County Prosecutor's office are able to make quick headway in solving this murder.
There may be an opportunity for the community (and Plainfield Today) readers to help the family as more details emerge.
But mostly, right now I worry about the other cabbies, who must now bear an extra burden of fear and anxiety as they begin their daily shift with this crime unsolved.
What can be done to make them safer?
And who will take the lead?
-- Dan Damon [follow]
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