Angry men, pat downs, orange moon and many more

Normally I am a very patient and easy going person but sometimes people rub me the wrong way.  On Friday night my first pick up in the city was an extremely drunk man.  He had a hard time telling me where he wanted to go.  I waited patiently.  He said Grant and Green at first, we were on Columbus and Green which was a right turn and one block.  He said, No Post and Polk.  I pulled away and he said I need to pull over so he could pee.  I asked him if he really wanted to pee in North Beach with all the people around.  He said, all the cabbies know me and let me pee where I want too.  I asked if he just wanted to get out, he said no just find a place for me to pee.  I got to Columbus and Union trying to turn and he kept saying you could have gone when there was very little space for me to turn.  He kept saying you are too slow and he wanted me to turn quickly and pull over so he could pee.  I said there are way too many children around here to pee outside.  He asked me where I would take him to pee and I let him know I would take him to Post and Polk.  He said that was okay he could wait.  He did continue to complain about how fast I was going, too many cars on the road, me stopping at stop signs and just about anything else that I was doing or not doing.  I turned onto Larkin St because it was it is a much faster street than Polk St (always a lot of traffic and people there). He asked again where we were going because he didn’t say he wanted to go down Larkin St.  At this time I had just about enough.  I pulled over and asked him to get out of my taxi.  He said, no. I asked again for him to get out of my taxi.  This time as he was getting out of my taxi he said he was disabled and I was doing a very bad thing.  I said I am kicking you out of my taxi because you are a very rude man and he kept saying I was doing a bad thing because he is disabled.  I just do not think you should be that rude to anyone!  

Have you ever been to a strip club?  I have not (well, not more than the vestibule).  I watched a guy being patted down as he entered a strip club.  Is that normal?  Has it ever happened to you?

Did you happen to notice the moon on Saturday night at about 1:31 am?  Here the moon was a deep orange silver hanging really low here.  I love looking at the moon!  Always something interesting happening around the moon too.  There is suppose to be meteor showers for the next couple of nights.  Tonight I was able to see a shooting star when I was taking a passenger home to Berkeley.  The passenger remind me to make a wish.  I did.  Still hope to see more, I have more wishes to make.  haha

Taking home drunk people you are never sure what is going to happen when they need to pay.  Dropping off a guy and he kept searching through his pockets looking for his wallet and not finding it.  He asked me if I had it, nope.  He kept searching through his pockets again, like it was going to show up, it didn’t.  He asked me again if I had his wallet, again I said I didn’t have it.  He said he needed to go inside to get his wallet (I guess I really didn’t have his wallet after all, haha).  He went to his door but had to be buzzed in.  Whoever let him in asked him why he wasn’t using a key but I didn’t hear his response. On his way back out he did say he was going to need help with the taxi.  He did pay me without any problems.  

Outside Lands was this past weekend.  It was a fun hearing about all the different bands that were playing at the festival.  There were a few shocking groups that played but most I had never heard of.  Sam Smith and Mumford and Sons was there and I would have to see either of them.  I heard Billy Idol was there, crazy!  I heard he was amazing too!  The person that shocked me the most was Sir Elton John was the main headliner that everyone wanted to go see!  This festival is attended by 30 somethings.  Most were not even born when Elton John was really big.  I did hear that he has a new album out.  It was strange to hear the young men being so excite about seeing someone I loved when I was young!  Elton John still has it!  Talk about staying power.  

I took a passenger to Walgreens in Daly City and while I was waiting outside in my taxi a guy was pushing a shopping cart with a thing of water in it and a container of fruit.  As he pushed the shopping cart off the sidewalk and into the parking lot the container of fruit fell and spilled all over the ground.  The guy just continued to go back to his car doing nothing about the container of fruit.  I am not sure what I would have liked him to do with the fruit but I at least would have picked up as much as I could.  

Often times I have troubles understanding where people want to go but if English is their first language I don’t normally have much trouble but a guy asked me to go to “sorry towed” and I had no clue what he was saying.  I asked him where it was and he said 24th and Mission.  As we chatted a few more minutes on the way to 24th and Mission I figured out where he wanted to go.  El Farolito.  I have not been to this Mexican restaurant but I have heard it is yummy.  Always packed, even at 3:00 am.  Maybe next time my family wants real Mexican food and we are close to the city.

Very sleepy tonight!  I have actually been writing this blog post for 4 days!  I just couldn’t find the words correctly.  I am hoping it makes sense but not sure.  

I did think of one more tip when taking a taxi.  Please, we know you enjoy taking Uber/Lyft please do not say how amazing it is to take one when you are in a taxi.  If it was so amazing why are you taking a taxi?  Must not be that amazing.  Sorry.  Just annoyed with it tonight.

Okay, thank you very much for reading my blog!  I love you very much and hope you get to wish on a shooting star like I did!

Interesting people

The city of San Francisco has so many interesting people walking around.  A man walking around carrying a 11x18 sized framed mirror and looking at himself.  He was also talking to himself as well.  He then showed other people what they looked like, not that those he showed really wanted to see themselves. Things that make you go hmmmmmm.

Still living in a bubble I guess but in my life I have not seen many little people.  A few over my life but not many.  In the past six months I have seen about 50 driving all over the city.  I hope I haven’t offend anyone, it is just an observance.

Last night a young male was wearing tall bacon socks!  Well, they said bacon.  Cool kid!  He was wearing shorts and riding a skateboard.  Bacon is awesome but I am not sure I would wear bacon.

A few things passengers complain about other drivers.

1. Drivers not wanting to take passengers to Treasure Island, Oakland, Richmond, Stonestown areas.  

I will drive you 1 block to far, far away!  I do not care.  It is my job to drive you where you want to go.  Need to go to New York, I will take you!  Haha!  I will just have to make a few arrangements first or on the way.

2. Drivers not wanting to take credit cards.

I take credit cards.  They do charge me a fee but it is the price of doing business.  I personally do not carry cash very often so how could I even complain about taking a credit card.

3. Drivers talking on their phone while they have passengers.

I never take phone calls.  I apologize when I do get a phone call but I do not answer it, just silence it.  The only time I have taken phone calls is when the same person calls me twice in a matter of minutes.  I let my passenger know I need to take the call and then I answer quickly and let the person on the phone know I have a passenger.  End the call as soon as I can.  I then apologize again.

4. Drivers not wanting to take ParaTransit

I don’t often get ParaTransit but I always try to run it through the machine first so it will not take a long time.  I hate making the passenger wait any longer than they have too.  Most of the time it works with no problems but sometimes there is no signal and I have to call them in.  It takes much more time but works just as well.  Happy the passenger seems to be okay with me having to call it in because it happens often.

This weekend is Outside Lands.  A major music festival that lasts 3 days in San Francisco, thousands and thousands of people attend.  The weather forecast is actually very good!  Not too hot or too cold which is wonderful!  Many more people will go and need rides there and back!  I will be in the area, so if you need a ride!  Call or text me.

Well, thank you again for reading my blog!  I love telling my story.  Comments are fun too!  Helps me know how I am doing.

Thank you again!  I love you very much!

Tips for taking a taxi

I have a few tips for taking a taxi, well, taking my taxi.  I cannot speak for everyone, just for me.

1. When you hail my taxi, it is awesome if you do not wait until I am almost past you to raise your hand so I do not have to slam on my brakes or cut people off to get to you.  Makes things easier and safer for everyone.  

2. If you need to say goodbye to someone waiting for you, do it before you hail a taxi.  I understand you need to say goodbye but sometimes it takes more than a few minutes.  Hail a taxi after you say your long good bye and maybe a quick goodbye after you hail that taxi.

3. Say hello and give me a cross street or place you want to go.  I know where most cross streets in the city but not addresses.  If you do not know, I can and will gps it, so we do not go the wrong way.

4. If you have a prefered way to get to your address please tell me, feel free to be my backseat driver!  Or if you are only kind of sure, ask which way I am planning on going and let me know if it is okay with you.

5. Talking, it is okay with me if you do not feel like chatting.  If you do feel like chatting, I love to talk too!

6. At the very least, pay attention to the route we are taking, sometimes I mess up.  I am human and sometimes go the wrong way.  I am okay with you letting me know I am going the wrong way.  

7. If you are going to get really wasted, please make sure you have something with your current address on it.  It will make me taking you to your home so much easier!  I have no problems picking up someone who is black out drunk as long as you know where you live.

8. If you sit in my front seat, please put the seat back to where you found it or at least move it forward a little bit.  There is a reason why the front seat is pushed up as far as it can go, so when someone gets into the back seat, it is easier to get in and out of.  Often I have to stop after someone sits in the front seat and fix the seat.  I am not unhappy or mad about it but it would be nice if someone did fix it.

9. Tipping would be awesome.  Not sure everyone knows we live on tips just like hairdressers, waiters and bartenders.  Tips are the same percentage as they are in a restaurant, depending on service.  

10. Thank you again for riding in my taxi.  It is always a pleasure to take you to your destination.

Okay, not too many and not too hard to follow.  Right???  Did I forget something?  Hope not.

Thanks again for reading my blog!  I love you very much?

Wild, strange, dark, not sure weekend.

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Just your average Wednesday

Today was an average Wednesday in the city.  Nothing much going on really anywhere but I kept hearing that there was no taxis anywhere to be found. I don’t know what they were talking about because I saw many empty taxis and not many people out tonight.  Happens.  

I did see a guy riding a scooter with a green helmet and his hair in dreadlocks that I had to look at a few times because I thought it was an octopus!  Crazy!

I still have a cough.  It is driving me insane!  I wish I knew how to make it go away faster but it needs to run its course. I know.

Okay, one thing that gives me troubles when I drive my taxi at night is having to go to the bathroom.  As a female in the city there are not many places to go to the bathroom that are safe and clean.  A few of the hotels let taxi drivers use their bathrooms but some lock their doors at midnight.  Horrible!  Parking can be crazy in the city as well and MANY restaurants do not even have a bathroom for customers.  

There is a gamer convention in town but the gamers, I think, stayed in their hotels to drink and be social.  They were not out and about at bars that was for sure.

Well, I know it is not much but thank you for reading!  

Smelly people…  In a taxi it is WAY worse!  There is no place for the smell to go!  I can open the window but it doesn’t always help the smell of people.  

First off I do not like the smell of marijuana, not at all.  I also do not like the smell of smoke.  Gross.  The smell of the vapor or e-cigs are not pleasant for me either.  

People eating lots of garlic is overpowering too!  

Bad people

I have been driving for about 2 years and in that time I have only had 3 that I would never want in my taxi again.  I am still nice and receptful of them in my cab, they are just not nice and receptful.

I picked up a beautifully dresses couple on Columbus/Broadway and they wanted to go to Union/Polk.  I complimented the lady on her beautiful dress and she seemed to enjoy it.  The guy just dismissed me.  Wonderful.  I started driving down Columbus and missed going down the first street I could turn around.  I don’t know what I was thinking at that moment.  I went down to turn right on Washington and before I could the guy in the back starts yelling, “where are you going?  We are going the wrong way.” So I said, I am sorry, I missed the turn on Pacific.  We get to about the same location as where I picked them up at but on Kearny the guy says “You are not going to charge us the $7.40 from this ride, right?”  I said a little sarcastic “sure”.  I took them to their destination without any further problems.  I stopped and said have “a good night”, they started to get out of the taxi and he tried to give me money, I said, “thank you but it is okay.  Have a good night”. He said he needed to pay but I said “Have a great night”  and they finally got out but the guy threw, a whopping $5 at me through the window.  After I started to pull away I said loudly but not too loudly “I don’t want your bad karma money”  I gave the $5 to a homeless man to make me feel better.  And it did!  The ride would have cost him an extra $2.00.

Stopped for a guy on Castro/18th and he asked to go to 19th/Guerrero, so it wasn’t a big ride but we talked all the way, it was an enjoyable conversation.  We get to his destination and he says turn left and go a little bit.  I said, please tell me when, and he kept saying go, go forward. I kept driving until I get to Harrison and tell him I cannot go any farther.  He then says “You took me too far!” so I turned around and drove him back to 19th/Guerrero and told him this was his stop.  He said this isn’t where I live.  I said, this is where you need to get out of the taxi.  He tried to pay but I just wanted him out.  Even as he was leaving my taxi, he kept saying he didn’t live here.

The last man I picked up was on Castro/Market, I really knew I shouldn’t have picked him up by the way he was acting before I stop for him.  You never know about people so I picked him up anyway.  As soon as he got into my taxi he was concerned with my backpack attached out of the way in the trunk of my taxi.  I let him know it was mine and it was fine.  He calmed down for a few minutes and then he again started obsessing about my backpack.  I told him again that the backpack was mine and I turned the corner so I could get out of the traffic.  At this time I was getting a little uncomfortable so I asked him to leave my taxi.  He said, “but I can pay, I just want to get to…” He tried to give me a credit card but I didn’t want it.  I just wanted him out of my taxi.  He didn’t want to leave, he wanted to a ride.  I let him know I was feeling uncomfortable and I needed him to leave my taxi.  He still didn’t want to leave, I told him I was going to call the police if he didn’t leave.  He finally opened the door but wouldn’t really leave.  He kept saying, I will pay you, I just need to get to…  At this time I started calling emergency.  They picked up and I started explaining what was happening to me.  The guy finally left my taxi and shut the door.  I pulled away quickly and thanked the emergency people. They asked me if I was okay and safe.  I said I was fine and thank you.  After a few minutes of driving away, I stopped to take a breather.  Maybe he didn’t mean anything but I was feeling really nervous.  Better safe than sorry.