Soggy Day Turned Sour

Installment #1

It was about 3 weeks ago when luck or taxi demand was taking a nose dive. It started to rain, but despite such weather I couldn't find a passenger for, well, for too long considering the conditions. When I finally got a guy, he wanted to go to LaGuardia Airport, which under rainy conditions sucks usually. Theory being, rain brings more customers, airport takes you away from customers. 

I still considered it fortunate to have a longer ride, since I wasn't doing well in Manhattan, until the BQE went from 3 lanes to a 1 lane merge. I listened to all the traffic reports on my way to the Expressway, but of course there was no mention of such stupidity! I began to worry about how slow just one line of cars would be,  so I got off at the last exit before the merge. As I left the highway I saw the one lane split into two and move sluggishly yet progressively. Now having exited I was up a creek with a weak paddle. 

I tried as hard as I could not to make the same mistakes I did over a year ago when I opted for the streets instead of the highway at the very same exit, but it was no use. I was engulfed with sarcastic oohs and ahhs from my passenger as we took 50 minutes to get to LaGuardia from pick-up to drop. 

The fare ended with a Credit Card Transaction, and no tip entered, but at least the semi improvised route added ten bucks. Still it ate all my time, and all my time ate all my money.  I am all for giving the customer the best route possible, and that was why I tried so hard, but his sarcasm led me to believe he wouldn't tip, and paying with a credit card takes 5% of the fee out of my wallet. If he were nicer, I would've offered to turn off the meter at 25 dollars, but when I apologized for taking such a backwards route, he started with the sarcasm. 

Having realized that I completely ruined my day by having such an untimely fare and having my nerves worn down a bit in the process, I decided to try my luck with the taxi hold lots at the airport, but no such luck. And so after another wasted half hour, I decided the only thing I had left in me to do with my lack luster energy and limited time, was to drive back toward the city looking for Queens fares. 

To be continued..