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In this 2009 file photo, taxi cabs wait at Tegel Airport in Berlin.

(AP Photo/Gero Breloer)

By Michele Marvell

On a recent Saturday night, we were invited out with our adult kids to see a friend play drums in a band. The band was performing at Cartlandia on Southeast 82nd Avenue. Trying to be responsible citizens and wanting to be safe, we decide to take a cab. We knew we would all be partaking in adult beverages.

As soon as we arrived at the venue around 9 p.m., we used Curb, a service that works with cab companies, to try and schedule a ride home for 11:30 p.m. We got confirmation that our ride "was being assigned" — but no driver would take the request!

We tried calling Radio Cab, but it was always busy. It was now 1 a.m., and everyone had all but left. Last call had happened 30 minutes earlier and still no cab. We even had our concierge here at The Casey where we live call Radio Cab, but to no avail.

We called Union Cab. Nothing. We called Broadway Cab. Nothing. We called Rose City Cab. Nothing. Seriously? This was not a particularly safe part of town. We were basically sitting ducks for any sort of gang or any group looking for trouble — with no ride in sight and miles from home.

Luckily, my 70-year-old mother answered our call and came to pick us up at 1:30 a.m. She very possibly could have saved our lives — or at least saved us from being robbed or beaten. Much stranger things have happened. In fact, my husband did encounter such an altercation walking home one evening a few years ago and had to fight for his life.

If Uber were available in Portland, this would not have been an issue.

Please support the many requests to allow Uber to do business in Portland. The very cabbies keeping Uber out of Portland are the same ones who wish not to drive "out of their way" to give citizens a safe passage home. We have found the cab situation very frustrating, particularly on weekends. This should not be the case. It could be the difference between life and death for someone.

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Michele Marvell lives in Northwest Portland.