My First Taxi Ride
I have never used a taxi in the US before and certainly never by myself. I was pretty terrified just thinking about it because it involved being alone with a stranger, having to tip, and doing it with a strict deadline (of having to get to the airport to catch my flight). My plan for that night was to drive to YouTube and take a taxi to the airport by 4AM to meet my family. This is what happened:
2:30 AM - I start driving to YouTube.
3:10 AM - I arrive and park in the parking garage. My taxi reservation is at 3:45 so I decide to call the taxi service to see if they can bump up my pick-up time. No answer.
3:30 AM - 8 attempts later with multiple numbers (thank goodness for having my laptop with me to look up the info), and still no answer.
3:45 AM - I am sitting at the curb in the dark and the street is absolutely dead.
3:55 AM - The taxi is still a no-show. Luckily, I looked up a different taxi service while I was searching for alternate numbers for the original evil taxi place. I call them, and a mean dispatcher tells me that they Youtube address I gave doesn't exist and yells at me for not knowing where I am. He will not allow me to just give him the intersection -- he needs a freakin address. It is dark and I don't see another building address in view. I start to panic because I'm already late so I look up at the street sign and see Bayhill 1200s ->. (Ya know, the arrow indicating that the buildings in the 1200s are "that way".) So I tell him "1200 Bayhill". He says ok, and I have absolutely no idea if there is actually a place with that address.
4:00 AM - I am wandering the streets with my luggage, hoping I find a building with an address that's at least somewhat close to 1200 Bayhill.
4:05 AM - Horray, it exists! I get there just in time to see a taxi circling the parking lot.
4:15 AM - I arrive at SFO and give the taxi driver a pretty hefty tip because I'm glad to be alive and somewhat on time.
...
I originally planned to give a detailed schedule of the rest of my travel day, but I'm too exhausted, so my taxi experience will have to do. The rest of the day was very annoying, but not quite as pathetic so you're not missing much. Let's just say I finally arrived at my destination at 8:30PM and I'm pooped.
On a positive note, the friendly, trusting Canadians like to leave their wireless networks unlocked, allowing me to post this blog entry. Yay Canada!
2:30 AM - I start driving to YouTube.
3:10 AM - I arrive and park in the parking garage. My taxi reservation is at 3:45 so I decide to call the taxi service to see if they can bump up my pick-up time. No answer.
3:30 AM - 8 attempts later with multiple numbers (thank goodness for having my laptop with me to look up the info), and still no answer.
3:45 AM - I am sitting at the curb in the dark and the street is absolutely dead.
3:55 AM - The taxi is still a no-show. Luckily, I looked up a different taxi service while I was searching for alternate numbers for the original evil taxi place. I call them, and a mean dispatcher tells me that they Youtube address I gave doesn't exist and yells at me for not knowing where I am. He will not allow me to just give him the intersection -- he needs a freakin address. It is dark and I don't see another building address in view. I start to panic because I'm already late so I look up at the street sign and see Bayhill 1200s ->. (Ya know, the arrow indicating that the buildings in the 1200s are "that way".) So I tell him "1200 Bayhill". He says ok, and I have absolutely no idea if there is actually a place with that address.
4:00 AM - I am wandering the streets with my luggage, hoping I find a building with an address that's at least somewhat close to 1200 Bayhill.
4:05 AM - Horray, it exists! I get there just in time to see a taxi circling the parking lot.
4:15 AM - I arrive at SFO and give the taxi driver a pretty hefty tip because I'm glad to be alive and somewhat on time.
...
I originally planned to give a detailed schedule of the rest of my travel day, but I'm too exhausted, so my taxi experience will have to do. The rest of the day was very annoying, but not quite as pathetic so you're not missing much. Let's just say I finally arrived at my destination at 8:30PM and I'm pooped.
On a positive note, the friendly, trusting Canadians like to leave their wireless networks unlocked, allowing me to post this blog entry. Yay Canada!
Labels: complaints, tasks
posted by Koko at
11:36 PM
7 Comments:
Wow - crazy.
You could have just asked someone to drop you off at the airport =p
Yikes! You should have called me; I was awake. But good job, all that calling people and having to tip and stuff would have made me give up. Maybe I'll just pay for parking on my trip...
I'm independent, Reid. Plus they would have had to take me at 3AM and I felt bad.
exciting! (at least it made for a good blog post... i think michael would have gone through it just for that)
How much is a hefty tip?
First of all, I feel bad for advocating the youtube parking process -- this sounds traumatic.
Second, YOU'VE NEVER BEEN IN A TAXI BEFORE!!??!!
Evan, let's just say it was about 50% of my fair (which was pretty low though).
Beah, it wasn't that awful. I actually appreciated your advice. And yes, my only taxi experience was in China I think, a long time ago and it's all a blur because my family took care of it.
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