Bad Attitude

Saturday night was one of those shifts which started badly and never got better. A poor start, if not quickly forgotten, can result in a bad attitude leading to poor decision making. And success in cab driving often comes down to confidence.

Late in the afternoon, I waited for 30 minutes on a suburban rank only to be suckered into a meaty job. On arrival at the pick-up, the radio operator informed me the fare wasn’t due for another 20 minutes. ‘Is that alright..’, she sheepishly intoned. Having needlessly lost my rank positon I was furious and immediately left for the City, empty...

At Town Hall a young woman hailed me clutching a bag of McDonalds and a drink. She climbed in the front seat and ordered Darlinghurst Road, Kings Cross. I pinged her for a working girl from a strip club. As I pulled away she opened the bag. ‘You’re not going to eat in the cab are you...’ I said. ‘Well’, she barked, ‘if you don’t want me to, I won’t !’.

Her antsy response coupled with my foul mood left me no other option but to pull over and firmly state, ‘See ya mate...’. She climbed out yelling, ‘Well, someone’s got a bad fuckin’ attitude !’, and I braced myself for the inevitable door slam. Instead, she simply flung the drink back at me, before scurrying off around the corner.

Although the drink was mainly ice it sprayed fluid around the inside of my cabin, the front seat, radio, dashboard and the meter. Fortunately, being protected by the security screen I only wore a little on one trouser leg. A quick wipe with a rag cleaned up the bulk of the sticky mess and later I used water at a service station to wash it properly.

Yet strangely I wasn’t annoyed by her reaction, considering the incident largely of my own making and causing little inconvenience. It was the radio booking system which pissed me off, combined with customers who either employed 'bait' bookings or simply didn’t wait. All due to a bad attitude I accepted job offers I normally reject, costing me some 25% takings on the evening. Luckily for me though, a rare night in the cab game.

Comments

[cherryripe]

I would've been livid had the same happened to me. I guess you get used to people throwing things at you after a while. At least a soft drink isn't too offensive.

[David Crawford]

Adrian,

I have a friend that drives a bus for Metro Transit of King County. (King County = county seat is Seattle, population is 1.7 million.)

His number two hassle is people trying to bring food or drink on the bus. This is in spite of large signs on the bus, and at the bus-stops, that clearly state that food and drink are not allowed on the bus.

This doesn't mean that grocery bags of food are not allowed, as they are. Some older or poorer people ride the bus back and forth to the grocery store. The bus system is happy to carry them. It's people with McDonald's or KFC bags that are not allowed to bring food on the bus.

And yet people will argue, and loudly argue, and whine, and bitch & moan, and get threatening, and will promise grave bodily harm, all because they can't bring their crappy little KFC 3-piece onto the bus.

Oh yeah, the number one hassle is people not wanting to pay the bus-fare. The bus-fare is either $1.00 or $1.50, depending on how far the bus trip is. My friend, when some mook hassles him about the fare, always looks at their shoes. He says the shoes are almost, without fail, expensive Nikes or Reeboks, or whatever is fashionable. And that's not to mention the bling-bling they have hanging on them. It's always the typical Central District ghetto-rats that hassle him about the fare. They act like it's a huge injustice that they have to pay a buck or a buck-and-a-half to riding the friggin' bus.

(His favorite riders are the hispanic women <> illegal immigrants <> who go to downtown Seattle and probably make, at most, $7 or $8 bucks an hour cleaning offices. He says they are the politest, sweetest, and nicest passengers he carries.)

[adrian]

Yeah David, many people think they can eat their lunch/dinner in a public vehicle without considering the mess and odours. I've given up explaining cabs are public vehicles instead suggesting how would they like it if I did the same thing in their workplace. These people know full well the argument yet simply have no consideration.

The tip re shoes is a good one I must remember. Regarding freeloaders here, there are some who assume free cab rides is an entitlement along with everything else in life. The hispanic women of Seattle sound like class acts.

[BourbonBird]

Ah, what a horrible run. Nothing like being kicked when you're down to remind you that some people just aren't nice. Here's to better shifts, Adrian.

[adrian]

Thanks BB, it's cool, I'm justing having a whinge - it's expected of cabbies.

[Graeme]

Food & drink annoys me as a driver. People don't understand that the car is your "office". would you walk into somebody's office with food and drink? I have a fellow driver mate who takes empties of people who leave them in the car back to where he picked them up from and throws them on their front lawn.Probably not that practical in Manhatten or Central Sydney. You are absolutely right about taxi driving being a confidence thing. Attitude is everything. I have found over the years that you can not work when you are not feeling well because you will end up wasting your time.