As some of you may already know, I have torn ligaments in my right ankle which not only makes walking difficult, but also makes driving difficult as well. In an effort to find a solution, I drove to work with my left foot. This was a terrible idea. I decided that instead I would drive with both feet.
My shift continued on its already questionable note when I arrived and my taxi was not there. This is an all too common occurrence (it happens almost every shift). The other driver knows his shift ends at 4. I work the same time every weekend, and every weekend I have to get dispatch to call him back and give me my cab. Every time he claims that he did not know and thought he worked til 5. Such is the nature of cab drivers. However, this time was a little different. Not only was the 28 not at the garage for me to drive, it was no where. The 28 cab no longer exists. As it turns out, it;s gone and I am now working 5-5 shifts in cab 107. Thanks head office, thanks for letting me know these small details about my car and schedule being changed, you're a big help.
About an hour in I realized this was going to be a long night for my ankle. Braking with your left foot is more difficult than I thought. There were many times tonight that I ended up stopping mid-way into an intersection, and many times I had both the accelerator and brake pedals pushed down, pedal to the metal.
Bad cabbie story: I picked up a girl on the west side and she told me about getting ditched my her last cab driver. She wanted to go on a trip with a few stops, and gave her money up front, $20, to the driver. Her first stop was around the corner, maybe a $4 fare at this point. She goes into the store, the cabbie drives off. He must have enjoyed his 400% tip. I told her this: As a cabbie, I get customers who rip me off a lot.....but mathematically, there's a lot better chance of a cabbie ripping off his customer than a customer ripping off the cabbie. Sad, but true.
A customer asked me what happened if/when a customer bails on the driver. I explained how the police and taxis work. If a customer robs or bails on a driver, the police are not there to protect me, the driver. If a customer robs or bails on a driver, the police are not there to protect you, the thief. You're drunk and having fun, I'm sober and pissed off. Let's see what happens.
Three customers gave me an $8 dollar so that I would let them sit in my cab for a couple minutes and crack some beers while they waited for the friends. A couple minutes later their friends drove up, over, and threw the lawn.....eventually parked safely near the garage and got out of the car. My passengers left. I left.
Customers bailing on me is something I'm getting used to. They all seem to be of the same demographic: young, white, male, backwards hat. For this reason, I was fairly surprised when four flight attendants that I picked up from the airport decided to run out on me, laughing. My ankle is barely holding on, I can't chase them. I don't think I would have anyway, it was unusual.
Some prick from out of town decided to call a cab. I don't driving all the way out there for free, but the fare back in to town usually makes up for it. So, when I showed up and they decided to say 'nevermind, we don't need a cab anymore' I kind of wanted to do donuts on their gravel driveway and spray them said gravel. Seriously, if you're going to call a cab for a place that is over a kilometer out of the city, you better damn well use that cab. Dick move of the night.
Halloween started early. A french guy with black eyeliner and a fake plastic sword came into my cab. There were similar horribly costumed people at The Pat, where I dropped him off. I can't wait to work next weekend, the costumes should make for an interesting night.
My late night break place is always Tim Horton's on Cumberland and 8th. Usually a 7:00, 10:00, and 1:00 thing. However, that will come to an end. Donuts and coffee and gross, especially that often. If any of you know of any places that are open late and sell reasonably healthy food made quick, I am all ears. Also, when I went today I order two donuts as I was hungry. When I got my bag, the Tim Horton's employee (a fairly hot asian chick) smiled at me in a not-forced-customer-service type way. When I got back to my cab, I noticed I had three donuts instead of two. Either she wanted to bone me or she is just friendly and incompetent. I'm going with the former because it makes me feel good about myself, and I haven't had any cougars hitting on me in my cab for three whole shifts now....kinda depressing, maybe I should unbutton a few buttons and show off some chest hair.
Oh ya....
P.S. If you're wondering about the title. My old cab, the 28, had a foam thingy that went around the steering wheel to make shifts more comfortable. My new cab has carpet around the steering wheel. I don't get it either. I'm not even joking....carpet.
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