My doctor is located 100 blocks north of my apartment, which hasn't been a big deal since the West Side Highway is a few blocks away from both my apartment and the hospital. But getting to work from my appointments can be frustrating. If you follow me on twitter, you know that my last appointment ended with me worrying about peeing my pants as the trip took extra long and I am after all pregnant. The trouble is, my office is in the 50s AND is on the East Side.
This trip back, the cabbie took the West Side Highway back, which was super fast. The trip cross town wasn't too bad either.
None of this sounds like blog fodder, I know. But be patient.
I pay for these cab rides with credit because they're usually more than 20 bucks, and let's face it, I don't carry much if any cash with me. So the cabbie stops and I tell him I'm paying with credit (if you don't tell them right away, sometimes they try to trick you into paying with cash by closing out the meter). I pushed the tip button- I almost always select the 30% tip for cab rides because I know they have to pay a charge for each credit card payment. So I pressed the tip button, and the ok button, and swiped my card.
The cabbie wanted to tell me something, but his English was...difficult to understand. He would point to the meter and say something, and repeat. I thought perhaps I needed to sign the receipt, but no, that wasn't it. After a few moments of me playing the guessing game and him getting frustrated, it dawned on me that for whatever reason, the tip I'd entered in hadn't taken.
So I look in my bag for the cash I happen to know I have. In the mean time, he's starting to get snooty with me, saying about how the drivers have to pay 10% for every charge and blah blah blah- very clearly he's upset and thinks I'm going to skip out on the tip. Even as I am handing him my five dollar bill (which was about a 25% tip), he was still being all snooty with me. I handed him the bill and said very slowly in my "I mean it" voice*: I. Pressed. The tip. Button. And I'm GIVING. You a tip so DON'T. Get. Angry with. Me.
I got out and was just so.... Ugh!... I guess frustrated. I just wanted to go Ugh!!!! really loudly. At the same time, I was frustrated because the H1N1 shot wasn't available (which as it turns out, the city hasn't received its vaccines yet). They're saying it will be distributed in November.
* My "I mean it" voice is a little bit "Officer in Charge" and a little bit "Teacher with unruly students." It's a very firm but soft tone that really gets results. It's not often I need to use my "I mean it" voice, but it's very effective. Well, with adults any how. Those middle schoolers were impervious to everything. Which is one reason why I'm not teaching any more. When my brothers and I were kids, we used to say my mom could go from "mom" to "first Seargent" in 3.5 seconds, 2 if she hadn't had her first cup of coffee. I have apparently inherited this trait.
Just wait until your kid turns five!!!!! (Me grinning maliciously) No, seriously. We skipped the terrible twos and have hit the fretful fives, apparently. LOL No, it's not usually that bad, but today was...frustrating.
ReplyDeleteAs to the cabbie, wow. I think I would have been mad enough to really NOT tip him after that, good intentions or not. Generally, you don't get a tip by being rude, and as much as they are expected, TIPS are not mandatory. I feel they must be earned. If you're a waiter and you can't even fill up my glass ONCE, then I don't see you want it really badly. I am understanding...if the restaurant is full, obviously we're not going to get as much attention, but still... It's kind of like I tell my daughter, "If you want that (treat of some sort), then act like a little girl who wants that."