ATLANTIC CITY - Betty and Bob Matas have retired and are moving to Arizona, but like many New Yorkers they don't drive, and they don't want their cats to travel all that way in an airliner cargo hold. They found their solution in Atlantic City. The Matases have asked Carlo Sambonia, who pushes one of that town's world-famous wicker rolling chairs, to push them to Sedona. Sambonia, pushing since 1978, was only too happy to take the job. Sambonia has become a multi-millionaire by never refusing a fare, regardless of where the pick-up wants to go.
"The other [rolling chair] guys refuse to take folks off the Boardwalk for fear they won't be able to get a return fare," said Sambonia.
But Sambonia once pushed a couple from Caesar's Boardwalk Casino across the Pennsylvania Turnpike to Pittsburgh, some 350 miles. "But that's not even the amazing part," he said. "When I got to Pittsburgh, I found a couple standing on the corner looking to be pushed to Atlantic City -- so I got my return fare!"
The trip to Arizona will be his most ambitious yet. And when he finally gets there, chances are Sambonia will find a fare that wants to go to Atlantic City. And one thing's for sure: he won't say "no."
