I broke my cherry

So I found a garage in Long Island City and got signed up to work this week. I worked Wednesday night and really had a good night.

It started out a bit rocky, no one told me about the switch that turns the off duty light on and off. I was told this was tied to the meter and it wasn't which I though was against the TLC rules. I guess not. Once I got that resolved after my 1st fare who tipped me $12 on a $8 ride, after I told him he was my 1st fare ever. After about 3 more rides my meter runs out of paper which basically put me out of commission. No spare roll in the car anywhere, of course.

I was so pissed when this happened, I was on the west side and would've had to go back to Queens to get it. I almost had to turn a fare away because of it, but the lady really needed a cab and offered me what she usually paid. This was a blessing because it at least made it so I got paid to get to the east side making it a bit more palatable. Thank God a fellow hack helped me out with a spare roll he had when I told him at a light what was going on.

So I basically bounce around the city for a while, mostly normal people, all easy destinations. Then a group of 4 really cute Asian girls get in in Midtown and want to go to Freeman Alley. I was like where the heck is that? But staying cool, I ask them and they give me a clue and I look it up on the map as I go. This street is tiny, you look on a map and its no bigger than an 1/8 of an inch, but I found it like a champ.

There really wasn't many interesting fares except for 3 of them. The first was a man and two women from Houston and they were wasted. The first thing they say when they got in was "Wow! you're white!". Then I started chatting with them a bit and told them it was my first night out and they were real cool. I dropped them at the Empire state Bldg and they handed me a $20 on a $8 and change fare.

The second memorable fare wasn't really slightly interesting but it was a $120 fare to Wal-something-or-other N.J. in Bergen county. A NYC Yellow cab has to take you anywhere in NYC, Nassau or Westchester County, or Newark Airport. All of these are metered rides, some with special rules doubling the meter once you leave the 5 boroughs. But this was a flat rate ride which means I charge what I want. I looked it up in the out of town rate book and it said $87, so I told the guy and he handed me a $100 and said there is more when we get there. SCORE!! When I dropped him he handed me another $20. This put me well over what I needed to cover the night and got me rolling to a super night.

The last memorable ride was some real cute, and very drunk girl going from the West Village to the East Village. She was very chatty right from the beginning and even though I find most drunks annoying, she was funny. She sold gym memberships and even gave me some free passes for the gym. So in the short ride in which she had me go around the block so she could finish advising me on getting fit. We also talked about quitting smoking, something I'm dying to do but can't seem to make happen. Then she relayed an interesting story about how she was invited to Bobby Flay's apartment for a super bowl party. Anyone who has seen Bobby Flay cook on TV would basically die for the chance to have a meal cooked by him. The kicker of the whole story was that she got sick and couldn't go. And this she attributed to the fact that she smoked at the time and that was the catalyst to make her quit. Good for her, I wish I could.

Then I got a real thrill on Thursday, I had emailed Melissa Plaut, who wrote a great book about her experiences driving a NYC Taxi. If you want a true feel for the job she definitely delivers. The cool thing to me was I had a question about finding a garage and she actually answered my email and gave me a recommendation. I know its not a huge thing but I appreciate any kindness someone shows me.

I still haven't found a garage I like but I've only looked at 2 so far and the first one wasn't my type of place and the location sucked for getting into Manhattan. The second can't guarantee me a car on the nights I want, hopefully Melissa's recommendation works out for me. I think I've punished your eyes and minds enough for now.