Campfyre Stories

Here’s how it goes:  Every other Wednesday my paycheck is deposited in my bank account.  Instead of going straight home, I go to the grocery store and shop for 2 weeks worth of groceries.  I call a cab and put my groceries in, get in the cab, ask the fare, pay the driver and go home.  The driver helps me bring my bags to the stoop.

I’ve been doing this for the almost year-and-a-half that I’ve been living in my current apartment.  Prior to that I still took cabs fairly often and, since my dad worked for the company, I ALWAYS call the same cab company.  They know and like me there and I know and like them to.

So yesterday, when I went through my regular routine, I didn’t think anything of the unknown driver that I got.  I asked her the fare ($6.75) and handed her $8 as we left the parking lot.  She sorted the money I gave her and counted her wad.  Then she proceeded to bitch about everything.

Because she got stood up on a really good fare, which caused her to miss a second good fare.  Things have been slow since the students were off for the holidays, so money is tight and having to renew her hack license is going to cost her a good chunk of change at the end of the month.  The guys who drive her cab during the day usually short her tank so she is shorting it at night, in return.  She can’t believe that the drivers aren’t drug tested (those addict slackers) and apparently has been very vocal about it to the dispatcher.

And on and on and on…  Which I generally don’t mind.  It’s not my stress and it’s not my drama, but knowing a lot of these guys, knowing what they go through and knowing how many of them are courteous to those who share their cab, I really have no sympathy for anything this woman is saying.  Clearly she used to be a driver in some other city and doesn’t like the way it works here.  I don’t think she’s long for this particular company, to be honest, since they have the most polite, friendly, capable drivers I’ve ever experienced.  She can’t see that.

So we get to my house and we bring the bags to the stoop.  She says "You have to give me $6.75."  I said, "Are you kidding me?  I already gave you $8 when we pulled out of the Hannaford parking lot."  "No you didn’t.  I COUNTED my money and I have the same amount."  "No, you counted your money after I gave you $8, a $5 and 3 $1’s." 

This goes on for a few minutes and I’m just SHOCKED.  I mean, not only did I pay her, I tipped her and she was so wrapped up in her head that she is now accusing me of stiffing her on the fare.  Not only have I never stiffed anyone on a fare (or a tab or anything else), but I even go so far as to call the company to cancel my cab if it turns out I don’t need it.  They know me there, have known me for some 7? 8? years and I value my relationship with them.

So I turn around, unlock my door and IMMEDIATELY call the cab company to explain this situation.  I won’t be ripped off by a pissed off woman that I not only paid, but TIPPED (although at this point, I kind of wish I hadn’t tipped her).

So I talk to the dispatcher who was a friend of my father’s.  I explain the situation and say "Look, I don’t want this to cause me to wind up blacklisted here.  I like this company, I like the people and I DO NOT like being treated this way by some random woman who is so busy complaining about her job that she can’t even do it correctly."  He explains to me that I’m not going to get blacklisted.  This isn’t going to affect my relationship with the company, but that (get this!) if she decides to call the police, it’s going to be her word against mine.

Fuck.

Well she finally drives off and, at this point I don’t know if she has talked to dispatch or if she’s called the police or if she’s going to call the police or what is going on at this point.  And I’m thinking, you know, I kind of hope that she does, because not only will I have the police officer call the cab company as a reference that I have been using them exclusively for years and have an established relationship, but would make the point that she had now (after ALREADY being paid) lost more fares and made less money all because she wanted to squeeze an additional $6.75 out of me.

Well, she didn’t call the police.  And that’s good, because, really, how bad does a Wednesday need to get?  But the bottom line for me is that I’m a pretty sympathetic and empathetic person most of the time, right up until the point where you accuse of me of illegal and immoral behavior when I have done nothing wrong and listened to your lunatic rantings.  It was her unprofessional behavior that caused her to not pay attention to her fare actually paying her.  I’m a little concerned for her future customers.

I also find it interesting that, for the past 2 months or so, this is the first time I haven’t shared a cab with another fare.  So there was no one there to say "No, she paid you as we left the parking lot."

Frankly, considering how vehemently against her company, her co-workers, the fees that are required in her job and the general population of the city, I think she really ought to look into another line of work.  One that, preferably, doesn’t require her to interact with people.