I have two professional cats.

An hour ago my finance and I took a cab from Copley Square to our apartment near Joshua Tree off Comm Ave in Allston.

The cabbie was silent until the end of our ride, when it was clear that my credit card was not working on his machine.

The law of the City of Boston, this law student knows (don’t mean to be an arrogant jerk!), is that cabs can’t drive without a working credit card machine.

This guy’s wasn’t, so I paid him the total cash we had - $6 - and told him I knew he was out of compliance, and exited the car.

He exited his cab and yelled at me, calling me a “f****** a**hole,” and getting in my face.

I yelled right back: I know the law, and sometimes it comes in handy. Especially when a cabbie is lying to you. Goodnight, liar. You should have told us your machine was broken at the start of the drive.

Everyone should know: stand your ground. It is the law that cabbies need a working credit machine to drive (http://www.cityofboston.gov/news/default.aspx?id=3967). We paid him the cash we had. That’s all we needed to do.

Some cabbies are swindlers. Don’t give them an inch.