"Hell Trips"

Several of our Metrolift trips this week have been bad - "Hell trips". I don't mind waiting on a pickup; but I do mind waiting 2 hours when I have an imminent delivery, then a bunch of finger-pointing from the driver on how it's all our fault.

I'm the person who's waiting outside, knitting or reading. I'm outside 15 minutes before my pickup time, just like they tell me to. I see the ride, I wave at the vehicle (drivers tend to go in the wrong parking lot at work otherwise). I smile, I'm ready to go, I help my husband. The driver just has to - drive. It doesn't matter if the driver's late, I assume everyone's a nice guy/gal.

One exception saw me waving several times in the cold and rain - it was freezing, driving up and down the street right past us for an hour and it's cold and did I mention it was raining? When he finally deigned to stop he yelled at us for giving "bad information" -- he didn't get a smile. I told him I'd feel safer if my blind husband was driving than riding with him, but maybe he'd surprise me. We made it home alive and intact, so he did.

So I try to have a good attitude, but it gets old waiting, it messes up our plans, and that's why I call them Hell trips. My theory states that Metrolift doesn't want to make it easy for us to ride. They have to give us a bare minimum as required by law (they can't ride us around for more than 2 hours, for instance). But if they show up on time, smiling unstressed driver, straight trip, and pickup just when we want it, they'd be overrun. They've got a budget. People who ride alot drive up the costs, so they give us hell trips. If we have enough, we'll fix the car or call our son or daughter to take us places, instead of resigning ourselves to hell trips on Metrolift. [end theory] Unless you're us.