The Cab Ride I'll Never Forget

Re:The Cab Ride I'll Never Forget by lobster_johnson on Wednesday May 02, 2012 @11:20AM (#3919492)

I agree that it at least seems fake. She's moving out her home at 02:30 AM to move into a hospice? They take a detour and she's two hours late, yet the orderlies are immediately around to assist her (presumably it's 04:30 AM now)? There are no details in the story, like place names, that would support the claim that it's a true story.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The Cab Ride I'll Never Forget by Klinky on Wednesday May 02, 2012 @11:40AM (#3919606)

I'll also add that he claims he was a driver for Yellow Cab. His boss is going to be pissed if he spent half the night not collecting fares. Edit: As noted by tptacek he was probably an independent contractor.

Also he mentioned that impoverished people relied on the taxis. Impoverished people cannot afford taxis and taxi drivers are not big on giving free rides.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The Cab Ride I'll Never Forget by roguecoder on Wednesday May 02, 2012 @12:57PM (#3920035)

Impoverished people don't have any other choice.

It's part of how it's easy to stay poor. There was a while when all I had was a bicycle. When my bike got stolen I didn't have the money for another one, but over the next three months spent more than a bike would have cost on unavoidable and otherwise-impossible transportation. Mostly I walked (including three miles to work each day), but sometimes the cost of the cab was less than the money I'd loose by not being somewhere.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The Cab Ride I'll Never Forget by Klinky on Wednesday May 02, 2012 @01:14PM (#3920115)

I was poor growing up. Rarely did we take a cab. We were lucky to have a decent bus system that was $0.50 and would take you all around the small town we lived. The fact is that we were so poor there is no way we could have paid the taxi fare & taxis don't take food stamps.

I do understand that public transit is not available for everyone, but for people who are impoverished, often the $10 - $20 for a cab ride isn't available either.

Honestly the inclusion of him helping the impoverished and old ladies just seems to be him buttering up his image for the story.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The Cab Ride I'll Never Forget by afterburner on Wednesday May 02, 2012 @03:20PM (#3920674)

Clearly in a small town with good bus service, a taxi would rarely be needed for things you need a car for.

But there are plenty of large towns and cities that have terrible bus service.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The Cab Ride I'll Never Forget by Klinky on Wednesday May 02, 2012 @04:55PM (#3921150)

I would still find it unlikely that a poor person could keep a regular taxicab habit going unless they were bailing on fares.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The Cab Ride I'll Never Forget by tptacek on Wednesday May 02, 2012 @11:58AM (#3919724)

Cab drivers, including Yellow Cab drivers, don't work for "Yellow Cab". Each individual cab is a franchise operation with its own P&L. Cab drivers don't typically have "bosses".

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The Cab Ride I'll Never Forget by Klinky on Wednesday May 02, 2012 @01:08PM (#3920089)

It does look like you are right, though some companies do hire drivers to a more typical wage, that is not the norm. So I retract my assertion that his boss would be angry.

[ Parent | on HN ]