Much Hoopla About Nothing: When Fear Meets A Grain Of Truth

Mid-week, Puget Sound Dispatch was presented with a dilemma: A Hopelink account customer bound for the eastern Washington city of Spokane turned up missing, this after the taxi belled in failed to find the customer.  Somehow, someway, the idea that another unauthorized Yellow cabbie picked up the passenger and headed off across the Cascades came to life.  Urgent fleet-wide massages were sent out, informing the errant cabbie to come back, along with dire threats that might and could occur.  

The problem is, none of this happened, with the Hopelink client leaving either with a friend or family member or simply walking away to some unknown destination. All this commotion got us, the cabbies witnessing this spectacle, very excited, initially believing the description as a "realtime" scenario, shocking in its implication.  

But it was all for naught though I don't know the complete details and never will though a few truths came through loud and clear, telling a factual story to the preceptive taxi ear:  that the Hopelink account (the agency behind the account) is all powerful; and everyone concerned, including myself, knowing the inherent lawlessness of too many of our drivers, believed someone was dumb enough to pull off such shenanigans, thinking they would be paid the over $700.00 fare.  Strange but true, we took the bait---hook, line, sinker---from the watery rumor blue!

Yes, all of us are completely jaded, believing the worst is always possible when it come to our taxi brethren.  And it is completely true, PSD rightfully scared out of their taxi pants about losing the Hopelink account through nonsense originating with some numbskull driver.  Best fares I've ever had have been Hopelinks, no doubt about it.   

The lesson to be learned here, after all is said and done?  Panic is not the best of responses.  And while the majority of us Yellow cabbies might be idiots, not all of us are as dumb as some might think, even knowing an elephant when we see one.  

Thick as brick, stubborn as a mule, we still keep smiling, coffee as our fuel!