First impressions are not always important

About a month ago, I picked a gentleman from JFK into the city in perfect unexpected time. He was impressed. He asked for me one Wednesday afternoon on his way to Laguardia. It was a 1.15pm pick up on the corner of 54th street and 5th ave (flight at 3pm). I was on 70th st and 2nd ave at 12.55 when I got the job. SO I acknowlegded the job and headed downtown.

At 1.10pm I was still at Park ave and 60th st. Since traffic was slow, I changed course. You guessed it, it was worse and I spent another 10 minutes going across two blocks. So at 1.20pm I turned onto 5th ave and boy oh boy, even worse, this couldnt have been my day. The gentleman was frantic and the base kept calling me. I was eight blocks away and traffic was indeed murder. At this point I almost got out of the car, put the car on my shoulders and stretched my imaginary long legs over all the cars to 54th and 5th. Or I could have pushed the all the cars out of the way. Ideas did keep coming up. I should have a siren, wail it and watch as 5th avenue parted in half like the red sea.

That was wishful thinking, bottom line it took another 15 minutes to get to 54th and 5th. That meant I was 20 minutes late and boy was I sweating not from the heat but from seeing the look and reaction of this frantic gentleman. This gentleman did not say hello, I tried to explain and he clearly wasnt paying attention. If steam could come out of his ears and nose and the rest of his body, it would have. He went on his blackberry and I headed to the airport. It took less than 25 minutes to get to the airport as all the traffic was going the opposite direction. My wish was to get stuck in traffic so he would understand what I had to go through. But no, the roads were clean and clear. My wishes came true, either my siren was wailing or I was pushing the traffic out of the way cause I was totally cruising.

As he got off to get his bag in the trunk, I asked if his back was any better. He said "better and good memory". Those were the only words we exchanged. I said to myself "positive energy" as I drove off.

This time I am sure he was both impressed and uninmpressed.

My run in with the law

Part Dos

Almost 6 weeks ago, about 10pm, rainy night by the way I had my second run in with the law. I went through a yellow light in front of a cop car. They rang their sirens and came towards me fast. I didnt think they were calling for me cause I hadnt broken any laws as far as I was concerned. I turned onto 144th street in harlem to drop off my passenger. They ordered me through the bull horn to pull over which I did, in the middle of the one way street (in other words the road was narrow pulling over was like remaining in the middle of the street).

Two rookie officers came to my left and my right hand side (what's new and whats with officers and the flashing with the torch in one's eyes).

officer rookie: Do you realize you went through the red light?
cabbie: No I didnt, it was amber
officer: it wasnt amber, it was a steady red. And what is amber?
cabbie: I believe it is orange like.
officer: that's not orange, that's a yellow and no it was not yellow, was red.
Hand me your trip sheet.
cabbie: trip sheet, that's for a yellow cab not a black car.
(another clue that this was a rookie for sure)

After I was slapped with a ticket, he handed my documents over and went back into their van. He orders me to move through his horn as I was putting away the documents. I proceeded slowly at 2 miles an hour down the block cause I was so angry. He wailed and I said back to him I was afraid to be slapped with a speeding ticket. I felt better driving that slow and as I went through the light, he zoomed passed me and I chuckled to myself. How else could I get over that ticket. Anyway, I have to schedule a court date to prove my innocence. I believe in going down with a fight.

For those that are wondering, flirting with rookies does not work, only with the veterans. Officer rookie and friend were trying to meet their quota for the day or just trying to exercise their authority. Whatever the reason, it's on, on my court date. Like I've always said, I am not going down without a fight officer rookie! muhahaha muhahaha!

Innocent till proven guilty......

My run in with the law

Several months ago, driving a yellow cab, I was in the meat packing area dropping off a fare. A block away, I get to a stop sign and count up to two one thousand and proceeded. Before I knew it, sirens were wailing and I was ordered to pull over to the side of the road. This was my first encounter with the traffic police. The two cops came to both sides of the car with torches to my face. That was humiliating.

As they asked for my license and trip sheet, my fare decided to jump out but not before being given the go ahead and wishing me luck.

cop: do you know why we stopped you?
cabbie: no I don't know why officer tyronne.
cop: you ran through the stop sign.
cabbie: No officer tyronne I counted up to 3 one thousand.
cop: you did not, you went straight through.
cabbie: I am sorry officer tyronne, I thought I stopped.

By the time I said officer the fifth time, his mouth had curled, just about to crack a smile.

cop: you know what, I will let this slide but dont do this again.
cabbie: I am sorry officer.
cop: and stop with the flirting too.
cabbie: thank you officer tyronne and have a good one.

That was a breeze, I couldnt believe it। I am not sure if I thought that was going to end up with cuffs, frisking or a high speed chase. I was just glad it was over.

(अबोवे नत अ रियल कोप)

Going Gospel

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
Genesis 1:3 and God said, let there be light: and there was light.

Life or death lies in the power of the tongue.
There is power in what we say everytime we open our mouth, words become.
Positive words and actions always conquer all. So speak well of yourselves and your loved ones. Children will become what you say of them.

Open the book of Psalm 91 if you are afraid, abide in the shadow of the almighty. Say it out loud that, weapons formed against me shall not prosper, they will not.

Racism, Sexism, Stereotypes and Prejudice

Part 3
So now that I am through with being a sexist and the like, I get slapped with karma upside the head. I am at LaGuardia picking up clients to Connecticut, about a 45 minute ride. I pull up to the terminal and jump out of the car to help the family with their bags which I rarely do. So the moment the wife sets her eyes on me, she flips out for whatever reason.

Being 'Miss Naive', initially I thought the husband had messed up somehow so I thought let them sort out their mess. During the tantrum, I listen in more as I hear my company name mentioned. This is the last time I deal with them.

So it took five minutes for the family to get in the car. In hopes of being driven home by someone other than myself, luck was on their side. There was only one seatbelt in the back. This meant only one child could be belted. The other would have to hold on to Mommy Dearest. The Governor was in an accident just a few days before, God forbid something happened to them. I called the base for another car and wondered why I never checked to see if I had all the seatbelts. It was odd.

It would have taken an hour for another car to get there. So we finally drove off and it was the longest ride of my entire life. I was so careful God forbid something happened. It's like I had a ruler measuring the distance between my car and the other cars. I was equidistant from the beginning to the end. Not to mention, the family slept through to their destination (how smooth could that ride be).

They called my base Monday morning, I think at 7.30am about the seatbelts. Yes I agree the seatbelts should be there but the lady had decided not to ride with me before finding that out. It was her way out of it. I dont blame her, would I ride if if my driver were 5 feet tall, female, teenage looking (triple whammy).

Update
that same monday morning, I took the car to the base to find the seatbelts way inside the seat. Mary said nothing about the complaint, neither did Ahmed.

Racism, Sexism, Prejudice and Stereotypes

Part deux
On the morning of the 23rd, I went to the base and as usual there is always a new driver signing with the company. In this case, it was a Haitian male. As we were having a conversation, (lets call her) Mary passes by and appears to recognize the new recruit. She greets him cheerfully and he responds coldly or rather unenthusiastically. Mary goes on her business. So the new driver and I have a conversation.

Moi: Do you know who that is
L'homme: No
Moi: Well, she runs this place
L'homme: I thought Ahmed does
MOi: Ahmed is the manager but Mary owns the base, so you better be enthusiastic next time you talk to her if you want to work in this town, I mean base.

I will tell you, I myself was not as unenthusiastic as this chap, but my first encounter could have been better had I known she ran the joint. Nonetheless, when she found out that I came from the continent, Mary told me that she had been to Kenya and was in Senegal every year for the past 5 years. If anything, she would be retiring in Senegal. I did urge her to visit Southern Africa. Tourism is probably my 'thang'. Mary and her hubby are from Korea, I actually have to find out which of the Korea's they are from cause I forgot.

To do list: Is it the South or North, have to find out

Racism, Sexism, Prejudice and Stereotypes

Part 1
(4/17 .. 12am) I am double parked on church avenue waiting for a pick up. So an Ivorian from my company triple parks to ask for the quickest way onto the Brooklyn Bridge ( which by the way was a right, a right and then a sharp left and you are on it). He must be a beginner I thought to myself. He had suddenly stopped in front of a minivan. The driver of the van was holding the horn in as good amount of time as I gave him the directions. One can only imagine how annoying that was.

My mouth had to say something, one of those involuntary blurts, "that wasn't necessary you know. Why would you do that", at which point I realized it was a middle aged Asian woman. She gave me a finger and drove off. I laughed cause I didn't see that coming. Even if I had seen it coming, I would have laughed. I havent heard of Asian people 'flipping the bird'. Only Blacks, Whites and Latinos.

When I get home I call my friend Lindie about the "flipping of the bird". She said I had to be careful what I say to people, they may think I was targeting them since the Virginia Tech shooting had just occured. She was right even though that was farthest from my mind. To the 'bird flipper', I may be prejudiced, racist, or other (wow).