That’s a question I should never hear from a cab driver. Period. I understand that their’s is a thankless job, most of the time, what with the carting around of the drunk people and the people who just get out and run on fares. I totally understand that. However, in weather like this – it’s not fair to gouge people for a ride. If it hadn’t been so shitty out, I would have told him to fuck off and would have walked home – or I would have taken the bus and wouldn’t be dealing with it to begin with.
To be asked that and then told that he’d do it for $50, quite frankly, pissed me off. I talked him down to $20 – and that was on a fare that’s less than $5 on a normal night. When another person overheard where I was going and we discovered that she lives not only in my complex, but in my building, he decided that the ride needed to go for $100. Ridiculous – and I told him so. I also let him know that I’d be reporting the cab to Arlington Red Top, letting them know of his price gouging, failure to display his credentials and failure to use his fare machine. He didn’t care, and why would he? I mean, I’m sure he had people who were more than willing to pay the $100. I got him down to $30 for both of us. (I was glad that I convinced him to let my neighbor ride with me – she told me later that she had bronchitis and this weather was bad for her lungs.)
I am so over the snow. However, walking from the shop to the Metro tonight did give me an opportunity to take some pictures… I’ll hopefully get those up in the next day or so.