The surge: 7th Avenue and 14th Street

The other night around 11 p.m. I was walking home up Seventh Avenue. When I got to the intersection of 14th Street, I saw a young woman standing close to the middle of the street frantically trying to hail a cab while blabbing to a friend on her cell phone. As this woman -- who was wearing sunglasses -- became increasingly frustrated, she blurted into the phone -- loudly enough for me to hear above the street noise -- "I can't get a cab here. It's like Baghdad!"

And that, my friends, is exactly the reason why we are still in Iraq.