On a recent trip to Paris, New York Times op-ed columnist (and secret moneybags) Thomas L. Friedman had an unsettling encounter with a Bluetooth-wearing, DVD-watching cab driver:

After I arrived at my hotel, I reflected on our trip: The driver and I had been together for an hour, and between the two of us we had been doing six different things. He was driving, talking on his phone and watching a video. I was riding, working on my laptop and listening to my iPod.

Hearing the story, Friedman's friend, French journalist Alain Frachon, told him, "I guess the era of foreign correspondents quoting taxi drivers is over. The taxi driver is now too busy to give you a quote!"

Frachon's exclamation point prompted Friedman to reflect: "Alain is right. You know the old story, 'As my Parisian taxi driver said to me about the French elections ...' Well, you can forget about reading columns starting that way anymore. My driver was too busy to say hello, let alone opine on politics."

Friedman has reason to be wistful. He'll be hard hit by the loss of this journalistic trope, as a quick jaunt through Nexis reveals:

• "'Outside the country Sadat is a great man,' explained Mohammed Said, a 40-year-old taxi driver and father of three. 'Inside the country he is only half and half, just half and half.' Dodging through the chaotic traffic of central Cairo, Mr. Said said: 'Sure, peace is good. But my wife can't find any margarine in the store,'" Sadat's Death: Some in Cairo Do Not Care, by Thomas L. Friedman, the New York Times, October 21, 1981.

• "'Because of the devaluation of the shekel, my rent is going up and my salary is worth less. But I think I will manage.' Moshe Levy, 53, a father and a taxi driver, said: 'I think things will improve if everyone just tightens their belt a little,'" Israelis Seem to Accept Austerity with Relief by Thomas L. Friedman, the New York Times, July 3, 1985.

• "I was riding in a taxi here the other day and the driver was studying English from BBC tapes. For 30 minutes I had to listen to a repetition of: "I like football. I like Manchester United," the prominent British soccer team. When they think football here they don't think Dallas Cowboys, and when they think telephones they don't think AT&T." Good Morning, Vietnam, by Thomas L. Friedman, the New York Times, January 18, 1995.