The Impossible Quest Of Hailing A Taxi On Christmas Eve Read Free Page B

"What
sort of business are you, banning paying customers?"
    "You
sir, have been rude to six out of ten drivers in these last few
years," the driver said calmly, reading from a list on the tablet
on his dashboard. "Have filed complaints to five out of ten, have
rated below three stars almost nine out of ten, and have verbally
assaulted four out of ten."
    "That's
just stupid. I have only made valid complaints where there was
necessary. When I'm paying I demand a certain level of-"
    The
driver looked back at him. "You don't remember me do you,
Sir?"
    Scrooge
gawked with his mouth open, trying to recall.
    The
driver sighed. "Well, I guess us cabbies really are invisible.
Anyway, the Supertaxi Terms and Conditions you have signed and
agreed to by using our service, allow us to deny access to
undesirable customers." He put a big index finger in Scrooge's
face. "You Sir, are undesirable."
    "That's
insane," Scrooge let out with a hiss. "What do you want, a bribe?
I'm not giving you one."
    "I
couldn't accept a bribe, everything we do and say is recorded
Sir."
    Scrooge
looked around the spacious car. "Recorded?"
    "Of
course. For your safety and ours. It's in the Terms and
Conditions," the driver explained.
    "I
didn't know that," Scrooge said, his eyes darting around the place,
looking for cameras.
    The
driver tapped the ceiling of the car, where a slight bump housed
the cabin light. "It's right here. It's not hidden, nor is it a
secret. It's just discreet."
    Scrooge
lifted up the coat to cover his throat and said, "Whatever. It's
been a hard day's work, I need to get home and rest. Take me
there."
    "I'm
afraid I can't do that yet."
    "You
what?"
    "As a
long-time customer, you are entitled to a special condition. You
need to accept a disciplinary action, and take a reprimanding
ride," the driver said, presenting the offer with a big
palm."
    "What's
that? A ploy to get more money out of me?"
    "No Sir,
no further cost will be incurred. The reprimanding ride in itself
is free."
    Scrooge
squinted. "What's the catch?"
    "The
catch is that by the end of the reprimanding ride, it will be
decided if you will remain a customer of ours, or if you will be
blacklisted and denied further service."
    "Nonsense. You are speaking nonsense. A company can't do
that! You'll go broke in a year! Take me home right this
instant."
    "We
can't do that yet. You need to accept the reprimanding ride, it
needs to be on record."
    "Blasted- I will not subject myself to that, no." Scrooge got
out of the taxi and stood in the sidewalk once more. The driver
didn't leave. Instead, he leaned forward and turned up the volume
on his radio, muffled music coming in from the car. He sat back in
his driver's seat and made himself comfortable, pressing the alarm
lights on his car to make himself more visible in the dark. The
orange lights just added to the whole flickering coloured lights of
the street and the shop fronts.
    Scrooge
snarled, and went down the road to hail a taxi the old fashioned
way, by raising an arm and yelling at it. Supertaxi had pretty much
engulfed the whole taxi service, leaving freelance taxi drivers few
and in-between. There were some though, since this was the centre
of Athens, so Scrooge tried to hail one.
     
     
    After a
lot of running about the busy streets and a lot of wild gestures,
he managed to hail a taxi. He had two more passengers inside, and
the man leaned towards the passenger window to talk to
Scrooge.
    "Where
are ya going? South? Nah, sorry, going the other way," the driver
said and moved into the traffic again.
    Scrooge
just stood there exacerbated. He turned back towards the Supertaxi
that was waiting for him calmly, so he sneezed at it literally and
went on with his search.
    Standing
at the road, waiting for a taxi to roll through another man came
close and was doing pretty much the same. But then, the man walked
infront of Scrooge so as to pick up a taxi first. Scrooge wasn't
going to accept that, he was here first dammit! Scrooge