I want a dull life

Tuesdays tend to be bad for me. Ron's accident? A Tuesday. Just one example. Although I must say I got married on a Tuesday and it was lovely.

Today, lots of drama. We had an 8 AM pickup. Metrolift calls a cab and pays for the ride sometimes. All we do, as clients, is give directions if the driver needs it. Remember this.

Metrolift has another program, called MSP - they subsidize part of the trip if you want a straight ride somewhere in a cab as opposed to riding around "Carpool" style in a regular Metrolift. And everyone knows the regular, call a cab, pay the fare, give a tip based on service.

So. Metrolift called a cab for us - they tend to do this on Tuesdays mornings, I've noticed. No one in NW Houston wants to go to NE Houston on a Tuesday morning except us.

The cab pulls up. We have ridden with the driver before. The last time, he acted like it was a "regular trip". "You called me, not Metrolift, you gotta pay the whole fair! Don't you try to rip me off, creep!" Attitude, and lots of it. I find it insulting that he believed we were so stupid we'd fall for it. I KNOW how the system works and I told him, it's in your computer, here's the contact information, and used the "code words" - I look at the computers in the cabs, I read them, and I'm crazy and brain damaged but I'm not DUMB! After a lot of bluster and bluff, the guy finally "remembered" and did the trip properly, but I made a note to myself to remind the driver it's Metrolift if he asks the destination.

We also told the guy, please don't honk. Where we used to live someone had a van pick up their kids every day for school. The guy would lay on the horn for 10 minutes every morning until the kids came out. We don't want to be like that, the hated noisy neighbor. We tell all the drivers this.

The guy pulled up and laid on the horn for a couple of minutes. I came out. "Where are you going?" He asked. That's what a cab driver asks when you call in a trip, not when you have a Metrolift ride. When you have a Metrolift cab ride Metrolift tells them the pickup, the destination, and the fare they're willing to pay (the shortest route). The driver knows this.

I vaguely remembered this guy as "trouble", so when he asked our destination, I told him "Metrolift didn't tell you?"
"It's not a Metrolift, you called a cab"
By now Ron's outside. We tell the guy, this is a Metrolift ride, we know you know this, (why would he be outside if he didn't get the trip from Metro?), and we're not paying for this ride.
"Oh, I'll do you a favor and make it an MSP trip so you don't have to pay the whole fare."
"No."

Again, bluster and bluff. I tell Ron. "This guy doesn't even know it's a Metrolift. We're getting out, and when you figure it out or remember it's a Metrolift trip we'll get back in. We're trying to get to work, and Metrolift called you. We've got better things to do today than play your games!" And I got out. So did Ron. The driver got upset and started yelling and I told him, "Don't worry, we'll call Yellow Cab and make sure they know about this (which will result in a suspension from taking metro trips)." The driver tried to play "I didn't know, I remember now, oh, get back in." Ron was so enraged he said we'd wait for another ride.

So the driver lost out on a $26-$30 trip, and will get a spanking from Metrolift. I wonder how often he does this "Shakedown" on Metrolift clients. We live in a very modest house. We can't afford a $30 cab ride! I'm glad I remembered the pig and his "game".

So we get out and go into the house. I work on some knitting. I tell Ron I love how it calms me down. Ron calls Yellow Cab and tells them what happened, and they send another cab.

About half an hour later, a very nice, polite, respectful man who was happy to get Metrolift's money drove us to work. A $28 trip. He couldn't have been more different from the other guy.

I was telling someone at work about this and he wanted to know the race of the driver. I said, it doesn't matter what race he is, it matters that he's an ugly person.

We got to work. Someone came up to us and said she had another refund (two in two days). Hm.

I did the snacks, and they looked pretty good (I need more candy bars). Then it's time for the milk.

I had to use another cart, and I was running late, but then so does the milkman. I like him but he's always late (and the order is always correct, so it's worth it). Got the milk, put it up, left.

It was time for me to go. Outside we have 3 driveways. The one that says "Entrance" is the entrance driveway for the wrong parking lot. Generally, the first or second time the driver will go in the wrong parking lot, I wave at him, he figures it out, and comes over to the correct parking lot.

This time, he went into the wrong parking lot, stayed there for 10 minutes and almost passed me up. When we got ready to leave Ron gave him very clear directions, and the guy "misunderstood". The ride home is 20 minutes. We have another pickup, so call it another 25 minutes to get home.

Fast forward an hour. For a guy who has a keymap, GPS, and clients giving clear directions, the guy is consistently "getting turned around" "making wrong turns" and "misunderstanding directions". I was willing to believe he was that stupid until we got to the house (almost an hour late).

"Turn, here, and it's the second house on the right." We told him multiple times. He didn't brake until he was halfway down the block. Then it's "Oh, did you say the second house?"

Ugh. I can't stand people who play games. I may be dependent on a driver to get me around but some people can't leave it at that. They have to brutalize you with the limited power they've got.

I'm so glad I take my pills.