Bottom Of The Barrel

Only in New York Part 4

As we exited our hotel in SoHo yesterday, a guy pulls up in a black town car and yells out from his open window "Do you need a ride?" Since I was dragging my suitcase and had my laptop bag on my shoulder, I'm sure I appeared to be a guy who needed a cab. I continued walking toward the cross street where I intended to catch a cab and basically ignored him. As I pass between the first set of parked cars, he asked where I was going. I told him Penn Station and he asked again if I needed a ride. I kept walking and when we got to the break between the next set of cars I asked him how much. "17 dollars" he replied at which I said I was all set, never breaking my stride down the block. The driver pulled away and wait at the light and watched us flag a SUV cab, load our luggage, hop in and pull away before he could get through the light. [I'm sure he wasn't expecting that.] I'm sure the guy was just killing time between scheduled pick-up's and trying to make some extra money but should I jump into any car that pulls up, especially in a crazy city like NYC? Also should I over pay for simple cab ride up 33 blocks? Our cab fair was only 12 bucks [which should have been probably only 10 if it wasn't for the mid-day grid lock around that area of the city. On a side note, it was quick thinking to quote 17 bucks. If we had jumped in, that would be at least a 3 dollar tip, unless he would have kept the whole 20 and not reported the "fare". New York's entrepreneurs are apparently always hard at work.

posted by TheWino @ 12:20 PM