Witness to Horror
As will always be true, taxi driving is an instant insertion into another person's life, may it be five minutes or an hour, you are within inches of a living and breathing human being and their lifelong history good and bad. In Mark's case, an impacted individual greeting me with two shopping carts filled with mouldering books and papers, bad has clearly been his prevalent theme for far too long, nothing short of a Roman Catholic saintly miracle changing a downward trajectory leading deeper to an already personal hell. That it was raining only adding to a misery I'd rather not see but there I was, now a rented partner to Mark's living and awake nightmare, over and over Mark repeating "I was drafted to Vietnam," and I believe that must be true, his time in the military assisting his now obvious lunacy.
Taking him to a sorry Highway 99 motel in Edmonds, I assisted unloading the broken boxes and deteriorating whatnot from the my overstuffed cab up one flight of stairs to his overpriced room. Up and down, up and down, sorry to see and glad to leave a deranged reality I could do nothing to change nor alter, witnessing a tragedy wrote large upon Mark's face.
Waiting in the Rain and Cold for 40 minutes
I wasn't even working but on my way to to check out some free used tires, the eighty-plus year old woman waved at my cab, clearly a elderly damsel in distress. "No, I'm not your cab," I said, "but I'll take you. Hop in." Yes, she was waiting for a Seattle Yellow Cab that never came, with no guarantee that it would. A couple days ago a passenger told me he called for a Yellow Cab from the 7-11 at 73rd and Aurora North at 6:00 PM Friday. An hour later he gave up, after repeatedly being told by dispatch they were "searching" for a cab to pick him up. Searching?
Very early Monday morning Dispatch twice gave me misaddressed calls. 601 1st Ave actually was 601 1st Ave North, a good mile away. And 1411 15th Ave turned out to be 1411 15th Ave South. I left a not completely nice message for the PSD GM, asking what was he going to do about all this, while also saying I knew nothing was the answer. What am I supposed to do instead, congratulate everyone for a bad job done? I was also given a fare in the 150 minus an address, the job info only containing the name of a building.
Intervention, be it from Heaven or the City and County, needs to occur. Why must our customers continue suffering from both dysfunctional drivers and management? Good question, ain't it?
Bad Canada!
The Canadian government just announced, due to the coronavirus pandemic, that it would not allow Alaska-bound cruise ships to pass through Canadian waters, essentially sinking the 2021 cruise season. Is this logical? If the ships are not stopping at Canadian ports-of-call, how are the cruise lines endangering Canada? Another good question, ain't it?
MV/First Transit Fee
In addition to the fare, the MV/1st Transit/Access Van client must also provide the cabbie $1.75. That this request is an unnecessary hardship for the impoverished ridership is not lost upon me, prompting me to refuse this meager sum from those living on very limited incomes. I encourage all of my taxi brethren to do the same, refusing the money. You don't need it and neither do I. Be moral, be good like I know you should!
Famous in a Ballpark
Yankee Stadium is well known for hosting famous rock & roll bands. Now it is equally famous for hosting COVID-19 vaccinations for Bronx-area cabbies. Rock on!
What is the City and County thinking?
PSD were shutting down the WAT (wheelchair drivers) after the legal limit of 10 working hours but no, after complaining to the powers that be, they made PSD reverse its mandate. Doesn't the City & County now realize that if a WAT driver is involved in a serious accident after exceeding the legal hourly limit, they could be named as a responsible party in any ensuing lawsuit? Amazing!
Tbilisi, Capital of Georgia
Yes, I have readership in that western intersection of Europe and Asia, Tbilisi. Thank you very much!
No comments:
Post a Comment