A Night Out on the Town...

Friday night cab driving went better than expected and I owe it mostly to my cab driving philosophy (one of many) that one should DO the job that is given to them. Alot of cab drivers will be given a job to do / customer to go pick up and if they hear of a "juicier" job on the way, will bid on that job (or just steal it) and blow off the original customer they were supposed to get. The customer either calls us back, calls another cab company, makes other arrangements or just gives up, but all of which leaves a bad impression of the cab company in the customer's mind. "Why should I bother calling THOSE guys again?"

So... highlights...

Shrewsbury X-Ray pick-up and deliver to UMass X-Ray on Oak St. nr Belmont Street. Sounds easy enough for $12, but it was insanely busy out and covering hospital charges is, at times, akin to doing the cab company a favor. I see it as easy money NOT involving a customer that might be stolen by another driver. Anyway... While on my way back from Shrewsbury, they really needed a "charge" covered at UMass hospital, so seeing how I was heading that way, I bid on it. I was told to go to the UMass Pharmacy, pick up 3 prescriptions for a specific person, date of birth provided, and deliver said prescriptions to Memorial Hospital (where I was going anyway) to a specific nurse. AND it was on the meter, making all the turtle-paced inadequacies of the nature of dealing with hospitals more profitable for me. (Hospitals are large, slow moving institutions that can, at times, make a cab driver more money simply by being what they are.) So... lots of traffic, delivering 3 prescriptions, dropping off X-Rays, moving on...

No one was bidding on West Boylston & Fales St. so I gave it a shot. She ended up needing to go all the way To Crystal & Illinois for $18.00, plus a $2 tip. Yay!

Sketchy job from 275 Pleasant, notorious address, to Pennywise (inner city store, can redemption, check cashing place on may St.), then "look for this guy" on Main Street (which we ended up not doing) and back to 275. Not bad for $15 flat rate, but sketchy just the same. BUT while on that job, one of my "regulars" called for a ride, so...

Gorged myself on Chinese food from Dragon Dynasty on Highland Street. I didn't know I could polish off a small order of chicken fingers & a small order of house special lo mein in THAT short amount of time!

Random guy in Tatnuck Square going all the way to Prov & Holcombe for $13 ($2 tip, thank you).

No one was bidding on the "credit card job" out at the Solomon Pond Mall, so the customer decided to, as the dispatcher put it, "make other arrangements". I put out a random bid for him and got the job, drove all the way out to the movie theatre at the mall. Turns out I've picked this guy up before, he was now paying $25 cash and when I dropped him at Park & Grove, he gave me a whopping $15 tip! Yow! Merry Christmas!

Best story of the night...

I was at the train station, first in line, waiting on the 9:40 something train to drop off. I get an Asian woman and her young daughter who I think walked over from the DCU Center where they saw Hannah Montana perform that night. She asked me for a reccomendation of a place to eat on Shrewsbury Street. I tried top figure out what they might want and her budget. I suggested the Boulevard Diner because they are cheap, have everything including breakfast and would be a fun, late night thing to do, capping off a fun night out on the town, just mom & daughter, especially seeing how daughter was around 8-9 yrs old. A measly $3 cab ride was paid for with a $10 and she wanted me to pick them up to return them to the train at 11:15 and I could keep the change. Great. I assumed that the return trip would already be paid for out of that $10, but no... They were waiting outside the diner at 11:10, and she paid again with a $10 for the return trip. She thanked me for reccomending the Boulevard and they went on back to wherever they were going.

THIS is what being an Ambassador to the city should be about. Good experiences and reccomendations, creating lasting memories that aren't "ugh, that Worcester place blows", but more like, "wow, that cab driver was nice, didn't hit on me, didn't make me feel uncomfortable or unsafe and actually suggested a fun / good place to eat AND returned on time to pick me up as promised." Worcester is a fun place, I just have to take on the task of "selling" Worcester one cab ride / experience at a time.