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Feb. 16th, 2007
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Feb. 16th, 2007 10:32 amOut of hospital. Terrorised by crazy cabby (more on that later). Safe on train now. Will post when I am home. XD
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Feb. 16th, 2007 01:09 pmHome again. The hospital visit was a lot less intense than last time -- I won't say it was "better" because last time wasn't precisely bad. This time they just drew some blood, gave me my pills, and sent me on my way.
But, because they had drawn blood and it's so cold out I sincerely worried about losing a toe to frostbite while waiting for the El to arrive, I decided to take a taxi instead of the bus that runs between the hospital and the El. There's a cab stand right outside the hospital and I know that it costs seven bucks (ride plus tip) to get to the red line, so I thought it was worth it.
Only one cab was at the stand, so I got in and gave him the name of the stop I wanted. Now, this wasn't some guy running an illicit taxi service, he had a logo and a licence and everything.
"I don't know where that is," he said.
Granted, he might be new to the area, but it's five miles away or less, and seriously, what cabdriving idiot doesn't know where the El is from a given major landmark? That's pretty basic fucking navigation in Chicago. It's not like the ways of the train are mysterious and unknowable.
The issue is not that I couldn't have given him directions, really, the issue is that there's one point at which some very complicated lane-changing is going on and I couldn't have talked him through that part to get safely to the other side. And frankly, I'm not going to pay someone and then have to tell them where to go. So I said, "That's fine, let me out here and I'll get another cab."
"Wait! I'll call dispatch," he said, continuing to drive. So he did, but dispatch told him that his radio wasn't working and they couldn't hear him. He tried again and they came under the impression that he wanted directions from Midway Airport to the UIC campus.
At that point we were at a red light about to turn green, so I told him, "You know what? Just pull over and let me out here."
As I said "Just pull over", he activated the door locks.
Um, no.
Fortunately, the locks are still manually operable, so without waiting for him to pull over I pulled the lock, opened the door, and stepped out. I thought about getting his plate number, but it was too goddamned cold to stand there and write anything. He took off like he thought I might try anyway.
So, eh. I walked the two blocks to the bus stop and caught it just as it pulled up, and it cost me 75 cents to get to the El instead of seven dollars.
And now I'm home, plus I got to stop on the way and pick up some groceries.
But, because they had drawn blood and it's so cold out I sincerely worried about losing a toe to frostbite while waiting for the El to arrive, I decided to take a taxi instead of the bus that runs between the hospital and the El. There's a cab stand right outside the hospital and I know that it costs seven bucks (ride plus tip) to get to the red line, so I thought it was worth it.
Only one cab was at the stand, so I got in and gave him the name of the stop I wanted. Now, this wasn't some guy running an illicit taxi service, he had a logo and a licence and everything.
"I don't know where that is," he said.
Granted, he might be new to the area, but it's five miles away or less, and seriously, what cabdriving idiot doesn't know where the El is from a given major landmark? That's pretty basic fucking navigation in Chicago. It's not like the ways of the train are mysterious and unknowable.
The issue is not that I couldn't have given him directions, really, the issue is that there's one point at which some very complicated lane-changing is going on and I couldn't have talked him through that part to get safely to the other side. And frankly, I'm not going to pay someone and then have to tell them where to go. So I said, "That's fine, let me out here and I'll get another cab."
"Wait! I'll call dispatch," he said, continuing to drive. So he did, but dispatch told him that his radio wasn't working and they couldn't hear him. He tried again and they came under the impression that he wanted directions from Midway Airport to the UIC campus.
At that point we were at a red light about to turn green, so I told him, "You know what? Just pull over and let me out here."
As I said "Just pull over", he activated the door locks.
Um, no.
Fortunately, the locks are still manually operable, so without waiting for him to pull over I pulled the lock, opened the door, and stepped out. I thought about getting his plate number, but it was too goddamned cold to stand there and write anything. He took off like he thought I might try anyway.
So, eh. I walked the two blocks to the bus stop and caught it just as it pulled up, and it cost me 75 cents to get to the El instead of seven dollars.
And now I'm home, plus I got to stop on the way and pick up some groceries.