So, after working the one shift and then taking a long hiatus, I got back out on the road today. I was nervous as all hell this morning. Afraid I was going to forget something or how to get somewhere. It is one thing to get int he cab and go when you just finished the class, but now i had let things sit, and it wasn't so fresh in the mind. Also, I didn't get a very good nights sleep last night and was not feeling so hot this morning. So at the start of the day, I was not really so enthusiastic about driving.
I got to the garage and got my cab. Still a little nervous, but started to calm down a bit. I was also worried that the boyfriend wouldn't be driving today and if something should happen, I would be out there on my own. But he put my mind at ease and i hit the road.
For starters, the car they gave me today was not so good. The steering wheel made a funny noise, and it was a slow breaker. Also, the radio didn't work, which is not great. It is good to be able to keep tabs on traffic, and also, a little music goes a long way when you are sitting in a cab for the whole day. Alas, I had to make do without the radio and became very familiar with the repeating TV stories broadcast from the screen in the back of the cab.
As I headed to the city, it started to rain. Hard. Really hard. I was a little worried about the weather, but i managed to stay ahead of the rain for the most part. I hear other parts of the city were less lucky though. Tornado over the Belt Parkway! Glad I wasn't there! The rain ended up helping me out a bit though. Because when it rains, nobody wants to walk anywhere.
Started out the shift with a good fare. Picked up a woman in Chinatown headed to Penn Station. From there I stayed in the lower-mid town area for a while before getting a fare from Alphabet City up to the Upper East Side. By the time I took my lunch up on York Ave I had already made my lease money. Considering I barely made anything my first day, this was looking very good indeed.
After lunch I bobbed around a bit. Cruised Park ave for some fares. Found a parade which got in the way for a while. But thankfully the passenger I had at the time was very understanding. I picked up a group on the Upper West Side and they were headed down to the Times Square general vicinity. Once we got down to 42nd street the traffic was a mess! Barely moving at all. They decided they had gotten close enough and decided to hop out early. I was initially bummed that I didn't get to complete the trip(don't worry. they didn't skip out on the fare) but that quickly turned around.
Had they not gotten out when they did, i would not have gotten my next fare. As I am sitting in this Times Square traffic, I see a man going from cab to cab. Finally he comes to me and opens the door to ask me if I can take him to Met-life Stadium in Jersey. I guess the other cabs didn't want the fare, so I told him no problem. He and what looked like his son got in and we slowly made our way to the end of the block before I made it away from the traffic. We had a great conversation the whole ride. They were headed to the Syracuse-USC football game. I told them that my sister was a 'Cuse alum and they told me they were going for USC. We had a friendly jab at each other. The rest of the conversation was nice too. And there was plenty of making fun of New Jersey, so I always appreciate that. Once we had escaped Times Square, we actually made it to the stadium pretty quickly. I bid them adieu, and they were on their way(and I was too with a nice tip. Thanks, guys!)
Got back to the city very quickly and had a few basic fares. Picked up one girl downtown to go uptown. She was entertaining, when she wasn't complaining about the traffic or the way we were going(after i asked her if she wanted me to take the Drive or the streets, and I followed her wish). But I got her to her destination and immediately picked up a family with their little boy headed to the Museum of Natural History. I am normally not one to coo over small children, but it was really cute listening to how excited he was to go see the dinosaurs. He was really, really excited.
By this time, my day was winding down and I did a couple of short fares and then one last one from the upper west side down tot he west village, which is great because it put me near the bridge so I could head back to the garage.
Overall, I had a good day. The island of Manhattan was one big traffic jam all day, but the people were friendly and I did pretty well for myself. I will be heading back tot he garage tomorrow to pick up another shift. Hopefully I do as well again!
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