Abel's been a bad influence on me. His creative rewritings of his surroundings have me seeing spankings everywhere.
For example...I take a taxi to work on Saturday mornings, as I have to arrive at the store by 6 AM. Last week I called at 5:20. By 5:55 the cab had still not arrived. When he finally did arrive at 6:10 he apologized and asked how long I had been waiting. When I told him he stopped the car in the middle of the road and turned around to look at me, disbelief wide in his eyes. He told me he had been sitting in a parking lot about five blocks from me and could have picked me up within minutes. The problem? Apparently the dispatcher had not given him the call until after 6.
I was livid. I use this same cab company every week. I call at the same time every week. I ask them to pick me up in the same place every week. I tell them I need to be at work by 6 AM every week. What on earth had the girl been thinking to sit on the call that long when she new a cab driver was available moments away? She'd also had a very nasty attitude with me and with the driver on the radio. I wasn't having this.
When I arrived home that afternoon I went straight to the phone and called the cab company. The manager was at lunch but I was assured I would hear back soon. Sure enough, not half an hour had passed before the phone rang.
The man on the other end of the phone was horrified. He spoke with a heavy eastern European accent, but his English was perfect and his voice firm and confident. I was immediately impressed. Having been in this business for many years he understands just how important it is for calls to go out immediately. He also understands just what harm it could do if his company made someone late for work. He apologized again and again, and even offered to speak to my boss if I was in trouble at work. (fortunately I was not.) He then told me the young lady who had been on duty would be in shortly and that the matter "will definitely be addressed." Perhaps it was the accent, but there was a certain tone of doom in the statement that suddenly made me very sorry for the poor girl.
Satisfied, I went about the business of living and forgot all about it, until yesterday when I called for a cab again. The same young lady answered the phone. From her first words I noticed a difference. Her voice was softer and quieter, and there was a certain meekness to her tone that made me wonder. I noticed it on the radio in the cab as well. She was very quiet and differential, calling the cab drivers "Sir" and being very precise in her words.
She spoke like a young lady with a brand new attitude, and now I can't help but wonder. Just how did that polite but firm European gentleman address his dispatcher's misbehavior?
I can't help thinking that perhaps a cane was involved...
Ms. Betty
