Trends

I drove both Monday and last night.  I've started noticing certain things happening over and over.  Monday, I kept having two people hail me and then me make different stops.  Then I kept making the same stops, pretty much.  It was weird.  I had never been down to Battery Park City in the cab before and then within the span of two nights, i had made several trips down there.  And thankfully every person who I had taken down there has been very kind in helping to direct me since I have limited knowledge of the area. 

I had a nice conversation on Monday with two ladies who I dropped off down there.  They seemed like they were having a lovely night on the town and we talked about how nice the weather was that evening, jazz music and life as a taxi driver.  It is rides like that that really make my night go by much quicker and more pleasantly!  And made up for the rude, entitled jerk I encountered earlier in the day.

The diner from "Seinfeld", passed by on Monday afternoon

I managed to get a cab really early on Monday, so I was uptown much earlier than I usually am.  I was driving up York when I see a woman hailing me from about a block away.  I first put on my right indicator, and then when I am a little closer, I put on my hazards.  I pull over a bit, but cannot go all the way to the curb since the woman who is hailing me is still in the street and if I were to try, I would hit her, and that is just bad for business.  Now, at this point, there are no other cars going in the same direction except one, right behind me.  Now despite my overly fair warning, and trying to move over, and the fact that the guy had two unobstructed lanes in which to proceed, he honks his horn, which he had modified to sound like a siren(note: NOT A COP).  He then pulls up beside me and rolls down his window and in the most condescending voice while rubbing the bridge of his nose gives me a "WHY cant you PEOPLE pull alllll the way over?  can you PLEASE explain this to me?"  I laughed in his face.  Seriously.  You had fair warning, no obstructed paths and I didn't want to run my customer over.  Do you THINK I maybe had a reason?  And seriously, WHY are you taking it personally.  Just drive around and stop thinking that the rest of NYC needs to do everything to accommodate you!  Seriously!  I have been lucky.  I haven't encountered many outrageous assholes.  But some people....

Monday night i was nearing the end of my shift and was hoping for that one last big fare.  And I was in Chinatown when a guy hails me and asks me to go to the Bronx.  I told him to hop in!  This was the fare I was waiting for.  He was really nice and we had a nice conversation all the way to the Bronx.  he even helped give me directions back to the city from where we were.  So we get to his destination and he is paying by credit card.  All of a sudden, my meter and terminal start acting up.  But eventually, he swipes the card and a receipt prints out.  It wasn't a signature receipt which i thought was odd for it being the amount it was, but i thought maybe that was the type of card or something.  I give him the receipt and he gets out.  And that's when i notice the meter has reset, like everything is paid, but my terminal is still saying waiting for the card.  So it was frozen.  I tried resetting it, and nothing happened.  Still said the same.  I tried pressing various buttons.  Eventually it went away, so I figured it went through.  I get back to my garage, and when you end your shift, the meter is supposed to print out a end of shift receipt.  It didn't.  I knew something was up with my system.  When I go to settle up at the garage, I see on my credit card details, the Bronx fare was missing.  I found out yesterday that I must have hit "no charge" when I was trying to  reset the system, so the credit card didn't go through and at this point, there isn't anything I can do.  Great.  So I gave a guy a free ride to the Bronx. 

Cars waiting to be dispatched at my garage

Last night, I started out at JFK.  They were so empty, they sent out a bulletin to the drivers that they needed cars.  I was there for all of 5 minutes before getting dispatched to the terminal.  Picked up a gentleman and his parents from Paris.  They were very nice, although didn't speak much to me.  But when I delivered them to their destination, the father gave me a big handshake as I helped them with their bags.  They did also seep to appreciate the view from the bridge on the way into the city.  It really was breathtaking.

On the short line at JFK

Things were slow for a while.  Then I got a ride to Brooklyn.  Once in Brooklyn, i ended up getting two more fares before heading back into Manhattan only to be hailed right away by a hipster couple to Williamsburg.  And after driving them over the bridge to their destination(which they changed several times, mind you) they didn't give a tip.  Thanks guys!  And you wonder why some drivers don't want to drive you to Brooklyn!  Douchebags.

Got back to the city and again, I get hailed and go back to Brooklyn!  At this point it was getting a little ridiculous.  I also was starting to feel a little under the weather(as I write this I am in bed with the sickies).  I decided I would drive until I got taken to Brooklyn again.  I got back into the city and was in the West Village when a girl hails me and asks to go to Astoria.  It's not Brooklyn, but close enough.  At that point I decided to call it a night, even if it was a little early.  I dropped her off in Astoria and turned on my "off duty" light and headed back to the garage. 

View of the Empire State Building from the Manhattan Bridge

I originally planned on working today before my body rebelled.  I think its a combination of this time of year along with my body acclimating to this new schedule, but it is not happy.  Hopefully its over with quickly so I can hit the road again soon!