The above photos courtesy of Danny Ponomar at http://www.dapo.ca/



Thursday, December 30, 2010

Weekend Randoms - To be updated

So on my very first trip on my very first day back from a nice break for the holidays I had a terrible trip. It started off OK I guess but the guy would not put his cigarette out and I told him to "put it out or throw it out", he finally complied and I started driving the few blocks to his address.

I thought this guy was a little drunk and it was only around 6:25 pm. My account of our conversation:

Him: "Hey I know you I have seen you before, we partied together right"?

Me: "No I don't think so, I am not sure I have seen you before, where was it that we partied together"?

Him: "Oh you know, you know....(no answer)"

Me: "No I am pretty sure I have never met you before"

Him: He offered his hand and said "I am XXXXXX", I complied and shook his hand and told him my name.

Him: "So what are you high? You must be, you look so stoned? You are stoned right? Man you gotta be stoned. I knew it you are high."

Me: "I believe that you are mistaken and I am completely sober."

This really was a shorter trip and I only drove this guy a few blocks.

Him: "What are you a fag, are you a fairy, I could take you right now you want to go (fight)?"

Me: Starting to become concerned because this assholes demeanor is starting to change rapidly without any provocation "You are mistaken and I do not want to fight you, we are almost at your house so just calm down and relax."

Him: "You fucking calm down mother fucker, you are going to get whats coming to you, lets do this right now, step the fuck out and we will finish this right now."

Me: "Calm down we are at your house, I am not going to fight you, it's $9 bucks."

Him: "$9 bucks are you fucking with me you fucking XXXXXX, go fuck yourself, how does $8 sound."

Me: "Relax, $8 is fine."

As he stumbled out of the car and fell flat on his ass. I did not get out of the car and locked my doors immediately. He showed me the finger and told me to go fuck myself and that he could take me. Honestly this guy was fucked up on something, I assumed is was cocaine and he was definitely acting overly aggressive and I was calm the entire trip, which is why I assume nothing worse happened.

I drove down the alley where I dropped this asshole off assuming I had just realized a loss when I said fuck it and went back to the residence and had the police called to that address. It was a non-emergency call and I sat their for around 40-45 minutes when the police officer finally arrived. I had no problem waiting because I wanted to see what would happen and I had a legitimate charge of Transportation Fraud against this fuck (because he never paid me).

While waiting for the police the father actually came out and offered to pay for the fare. I was so upset at this point that I declined the money and asked him to wait until the police arrived to deal with them. I guess had he came out right away and payed me I would have accepted, put I already called the police because I was not about to go knock on the door and get in a fight with whomever was behind that door, are you kidding me? So I waited and waited and the police arrive and I tell them my story.

I have never felt more intimidated and threatened by a person before but he never really did anything illegal other than not pay me. So when the police arrived they were let into the house and I was subsequently paid my $10 and was asked to leave while the officer was going to try to offer some emotional support to the family and/or the asshole drunk. I guess the officer determined that he was not doing cocaine and had some sort of alcohol related mental episode. How are you qualified to make an immediate physchiatric evaluation?

........................................................................................................................................

I picked up a former XXXXXX XXXXXX Professor from the XXXXXX XXXXXX later in the evening and he was with a hooker and they were going downtown to get whatever they were getting. We finally arrived at the XXXXXX XXXXXX and while she is waiting for the crack (I assume) she asks the Professor to come in to have a threesome with XXXXXX while waiting for the crack (I assume). He intelligently declined and I took him back to his hotel. He was very smart not going into the XXXXXX XXXXXX because they likely would have taken him for all he was worth and more. That is how the crack whores operate, they latch onto someone with money and will not let go until they let go of them.

.......................................................................................................................................

Even later I was sent on a call to the West Side and when I arrived I witnessed a bunch of XXXXXX fighting in the doorway of the residence, I saw around ten people inside the entrance to the house and it appeared as though they were trying to eject a certain female from the party. She was removed from the residence at least twice and she managed to get back into the house when I notice a male pick her up and he threw her down the stairs hard. I backed up because I could not see it she was OK or not and it appeared as though she was unconscious at first but came to shortly afterward.

I should have drove off right then and there but this shit intrigues me so I stuck around. This woman gets up and starts trying to bash one of her friends vehicles drivers side window with her fist.

So I let her and her boyfriend in the car and after hearing all her bullshit drunken fucking XXXXXX shit I am sorry to say that she probably deserved much worse. You think your boyfriend should defend you against his own family after all the shit you pulled? Go back to the XXXXXX.

Thanks for not paying me by the way? Do you not think I know where you LIVE? Fuck you.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

WTF?

I was sent on a trip to XXXXXX at the Lethbridge XXXXXX and notice some people standing on the street arguing, it seemed like a normal argument. I waited and waited and finally gave up on them and slowly drove away to the actual bar where I was sent to. There was no one there so I went to the front lobby and a staff member had asked me to take her customers home. Well it was the same customers that were on the street and I turned around and they were still arguing. A fight nearly ensued and one of the bouncers was trying to intervene and they got into a shoving match. I was casually watching the scene expecting some fists to start flying. Two girls and a guy get in and tell me to lock my doors, which I did.

I started driving when the guy managed to stumble in front of the car and I was forced to stop. The bouncer was trying to drag him away from the vehicle and was having a hard time doing so. Once the area was clear I immediately started to drive off and the guy managed to punch my window hard, I am actually surprised he did not break the glass.

So I thought this guy was done when he runs after the car and starts trying to open the door while I was driving and I stepped on the gas and flew around the corner and onto the street. I thought he had let go when after about 50 feet I stopped because I realized he was still hanging on to the door handle and I was dragging him.

I stopped and one girl decides to get out and the bouncer is right there after this guy because he is still acting crazy, I took my chance and drove away. Seriously you are a fucking idiot, had you let go of the door handle while I was turning I surely would have ran you over. Get your shit together, yeah your girlfriend was hot but it is worth all the trouble?

Also I have no idea of why they were arguing/fighting in the first place.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Trying to be Respectful

I have decided that in order to protect my personal privacy and my customers privacy I have made some serious changes to this blog. I will no longer mention ANY business's name and have made some editing changes to reflect my new policy, which include removing certain details and videos (still an ongoing process).

I have not edited any post where the Lethbridge Police have identified a suspect and/or released any information pertaining to a person involved in any sort of crime. I have also not removed any mention of certain businesses that have had terrible health inspection reports, which are available to the public through the Alberta Health Services website.

If you look further into this blog and see XXXXXX that is a direct editing change.

I have gone one step further and have removed race as a factor in ALL of my posts and will continue to do just that.
I believe that I have a few posts to review but I have done my very best to comply with my new self imposed rules.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Something Most People Never See - unedited

So this woman has been requesting me a lot lately and I never know it is her until I arrive at the place because she uses a different name every time.

I have been basically giving her substantial discounts on trips and even free rides just to get a glimpse into a lifestyle I am curious to know more about.

Tonight I picked her up from downtown and she had to meet someone on the North side. So I drove to where she wanted to go and there was no one there at first. I had my suspicions about what she was up to but she never actually said. So this person arrives a short time later and she got out of the car, went to talk with that person, and came back shortly afterwards.

I started driving her back to her place and she asked me to pull over and she showed me the two baggies of crack that she had just bought for $30 a piece and mentioned that crack was in short supply recently and she would be able to sell it for $60 a piece. There really was very little substance to look at and from my observations $60 really does not buy a whole lot of crack. I took her back to her place downtown. She also mentioned that with crack prices running high lately that heroin was starting to trickle into the city, which is obviously not good at all.

I picked her up again later with her actual boyfriend, the previous legit boyfriend I had seen her with ended up going to jail for robbing a gas station in town, so she says.

It is really a surreal experience driving this woman around because you really have no idea what could happen and she is very entertaining and often will not stop talking about all the shit that goes down in her life. It is hard for me to get a word in and I assume that she is smoking the crack, so I just listen mostly. She completely trusts me and I show her the same respect.

So during this trip she is going to the South side to buy more of whatever and she says we have to pull into the alley because if the Stepmother ever found out what he was doing she would kill him, I don't know why exactly she had to come to this place but I would be safe to assume it was for crack because when she came back it was like that's some weird shit, doing a deal through his bedroom window.

So on the way driving back downtown she spots a lone guy walking on the side of the road and she decides this could add to her earnings for the night, her boyfriend was still in the car and was obviously cool with the whole situation. She wanted to bet with me that she could get this guy to come Home with her.

I pulled over near an intersection close to the guy and put on my four ways to let the non-emergency ambulance know to pass me and they did. She had her door open and asked the guy if he wanted a ride. He said sure and it got weird real fucking fast when he called his two other buddies over which none of us had seen. So some seating arrangements are changed, the hooker is in the back with the three guys and it sounds like this, Èso who wants to party tonight, etc. I think a couple of guys clued into what was being offered and they mentioned that they were married but the third guy was interested.

So I drive a couple of blocks and two of them want to be let out, so I stopped and noted the address they had mentioned that I am sure nobody heard but me.

The third guy (not one of the guys that were interested in the woman's services) wants to get liquor from downtown and is fucking wasted already. So the woman was trying to interest the gentleman in the back seat but he wanted no part of it and a small argument ensued.

I was soon faced with a dilemma because I was basically driving this woman and guy around out of my own pocket (or on my own time) and she asked the guy if he wanted a ride, which he accepted. So I have the meter going on this new guy and he knows its all him when she says she wants to go back to her place and the guy she invited is the one actually paying me now for the trip and his only objective was to get liquor and get back to his buddies place.

While out of the car the hooker asks her boyfriend to leave and says that she has this guy, which was clearly not the case but she asked him to get out and walk back to their place, which was not far, they exchanged a kiss.

I was dumbfounded and had no clue how this was going to end, the guy actually got liquor from the store in his severely drunken state and I popped the trunk for him to put the liquor into. Not only is it the law to have liquor in the trunk or what not but I often use it as a technique to secure future payment.The guy wanted no part of putting his liquor into the trunk and I think he was suspicious, and why shouldn't he have been, I mean I was suspicious myself of all characters involved.

So he decides to go back to his place and not his friends and against this woman's request I drive him there because I am in this to make money.

The man and woman were giving their thoughts to each other and I just could not wait for him to get out of the car. It was uncomfortable. Looking back on the situation the guy could have assumed that I was driving this girl around to try to find a party but that is not the case what so ever. She asked him if he wanted a ride and him and his friends accepted.

So the guy finally gets on his way and the woman asked me to take her back to where the other two guys went. Yes I did remember the address they gave me and when we arrived they were having a smoke just chilling on the porch. She got out of the car and approached them, she is really a pro because she waved me off very soon afterwards and I never saw her again that night.

I am really unsure of what to make of all of this, especially my involvement. I mean how can I say NO to a personal call when she changes names all the time, I might have to have a chat with her about that. If I could think of anything shocking for this site she has said it or has lead me on to believe it and I find that intriguing.

As a cab driver I look forward to some interesting situations, why not this oneÉ

Friday, December 10, 2010

New Regulations Coming into Effect in the New Year

I am not here to post the official bylaws (which have not even been updated to the city of Lethbridge website as of this date. Basically according to the City of Lethbridge Bylaw 5658 Taxi Provisions a taxi driver must not have been convicted under the Criminal Code of Canada with the previous five years of application and a drivers abstract must not contain a serious driving offence.

I am not sure of the difference between the Criminal Code of Canada and the Controlled Substance Act but from my understand of the wording of the bylaw if you were convicted of selling drugs before this bylaw comes into effect then you are good to go. If you are convicted of selling drugs after these laws are in effect then you are fucked. I would be wrong if the Controlled Substance Act is part of the Criminal Code but I find it strange that they do not mention the Controlled Substance Act until Section 6.15 (2) (e) (4).


From the Department of Regualtory Services. I am not immune to spelling errors but you would think that on a city issued taxi license regulatory would be spelled correctly.


I spoke with the Senior Bylaw Officer while going through the process and he personally processed the above document.

I asked a few questions and gathered the following information, none of which I present to be fact. Apparently not having this document presented in clear view of a customer could result in a $250 fine and I have known that the bylaw inspector has done periodic spot checks to ensure the rules are being followed, that is how XXXXXX Ribbon got shut down.

I asked why the city was taking these steps and what their motivation was and he mentioned to the effect "We received two complaints (that's right only two complaints for this whole process to start) from concerned citizens and we decided to open a review of the current bylaws in place within the city and we performed a comparative analysis with other cities within Alberta and decided there would be one of three options that we would choose. The first option was to do nothing, the second was to enforce some minor regulations to monitor the industry and the third option was to make major sweeping changes, like Calgary has with issuing licence plates and regulating the amount of cabs that are occupying the streets (which makes owning a taxi plate a supply and demand marketplace and holders of these plates can buy and sell them like they are shares in a corporation, at least from my understanding of how Calgary operates)." He mentioned that they had chosen the option that would best serve the community and I 100% agree with this step in regulating the industry.

I am glad to know that when the taxi driver who stabbed four people gets out of jail he will have to find another occupation. Would you, as a woman, want to get into a taxi wasted drunk not knowing if this driver has had prior sexual assault convictions against women?

Also I am tired of hearing how this is a "Cash Cow" for the city. I understand the process is more difficult for some than others but it is no cash cow. I paid $50 for my business licence, just as any other business has to pay. I guess another $50 (or whatever it was) for my criminal check and another $25 maybe for a driver's abstract.

So the city received maybe a $100 max for issuing me my taxi operators licence. I estimate the expenses to process this to be around $40 all inclusive, with the police, bylaw, etc. So the city will issue at the very most 200 licence's. So they potentially just made $12,000.

I can assure you that $12,000 is no motivation for the city implementing these regulations and it is no cash cow, are you kidding me?

If you are interested I believe this bylaw was passed here July 19, 2010, with zero opposition. Search 5658 within the pdf for ease of finding it.

........................

As a side post I am not against these regulations but if cab drivers are seriously pissed off about these new rules than I would support their opinion as a whole and would vote my opinion based on the majority of the people I have spoken with. If cab drivers were really upset about a big issue in Lethbridge then I am sure we would find the cause to protest at some level. Has there been any protest at all with the city? No, not as far as I know.

ENFORCEMENT:

I do not believe that the city has any immediate plan for any enforcement activities. XXXXXX Ribbon operated for at least a year before they recieved what? A fine (I don't know, but a warrant only arose because he never went to court to face the charges)?

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Random

I just finished dropping off the two nice looking twins at a North side party. After we finished our "hugs" I started driving back downtown when two women flagged me down shortly afterwards (on the same street).

The one woman asked me if I would take her friend home. I said yes. She then asked me if her friend could eat her hot dog in the car. I said I didn't care and it seemed like a weird question at the time.

So this absolutely gorgeous woman gets into the cab and I was in love right away. OK getting a little off topic, so she gets in the car.

I asked her how her night was going and she proceeded to tell me that she was just kicked out of another taxi around the corner because she took a bite of her hot dog in the cab. She said the cab driver tried to grab the hot dog out of her mouth and kicked her and her friend out of the car.

I mean who am I to say that is what happened? It is just here say but I believed the story for the most part. I would never kick a nice looking woman out of my cab, or even an ugly guy,  for eating a hot dog. Really there is very little mess usually, a couple of pieces of cheese, who gives a shit? Wipe it off the seat.

So I took this woman to the West side and I was very much interested in what she had to say, I only wish the feeling was mutual because she did not ask me a single question the entire trip but was very happy to answer my questions with elaborate responses.

She mentioned to the effect that her biological clock was ticking down and if she did not have children within the next 8 years she would never have children. I actually really like this woman. I never let her know it because I really do try to be a professional and I understand my "role" in these situations. It appeared as though she had fashioned her own green skirt together and I thought it was very creative of her. Of course I never said anything because I am a complete fucking dumb ass.

That is not the case, customers are customers.

Paranoid Schizophrenia / No Money = NO TRIP

some other time

Drunken Bums

Earlier in the week I was sent to a terrible call on the West side. Once I arrived I went to buzz the apartment number and noticed three individuals in the lobby who were slumping over one another on a couple of chairs. They must have noticed my movement and seen the taxi outside and they started to move.

I held the door of the apartment building open so they could walk past and I got a good glimpse of what I was dealing with. I always give people the benefit of the doubt but once these people were in the car it became a very difficult situation for me and by the end of it I felt very threatened and was on the verge of calling the police.

Once they had gotten in the taxi I asked them where they wanted to go and was immediately suspicious when they said they wanted to go to the North side (they could have said anywhere and I still would have been suspicious). The dialog went something like this...

Me: "So where abouts on the North side do you want to go"

Them: "Oh just start driving, we want to go North"

Me: "No I need to know where you are going first, where abouts on the North side?"

Them: "We have to go to the shelter"

Me: "Oh, well do you have the money to pay for the ride, it is going to be around $15?"

Them: "Of course we do, start driving, what are you new or something or are you just a fucking idiot?"

Me: "I need to have a deposit on the fare and $15 should cover it"

Them: "Oh we have the money, just take us to the shelter, what you don't trust us, do you know who I am?, fucking start driving you dumb ass".

Me: "I don't mean any disrespect but I am not taking you to the shelter without a deposit on the fare".

So the guy tells the woman to pay me and she is fumbling around with a bunch of loose change and I realize this is going no where fast. You know if this was truly an emergency situation where someone needed to get to the shelter and had no option but to freeze outside I could have been more compassionate, but these assholes were rude from the start and were completely wasted drunk and wanted to get more liquor at 4:00am.

I am no community service.

After abut 5-7 minutes of bickering with these folks and demanding money upfront to get to the North side the situation was escalating and I admit I was very worried about what might happen next. I was basically asking them to leave the taxi in a civilized way based on the fact that they had no money. They would not accept my offer for them to just leave and be on there way and were arguing with me relentlessly and they were getting aggressive when one guy put his arm into the front area around my face and I nearly shit my pants because I thought he was going to try to attack/strangle me.

I had earlier made my dispatcher aware that this could have been a problem but I do not believe that she had realized the seriousness of my situation.

One dude eventually passed out in the back seat and the other guy had thought I had taken money from the woman in the front seat (even though I had given it back to her because it was no where near sufficient to get to the shelter).

Long story short the woman decides on a different address not far from where they were on the West side and I asked for $5, she gave me the bill and I drove them two blocks to exactly the apartment that she said that was not good enough. She said "What are you a fucking idiot I need to go to the back", I said "I am not a mind reader, perhaps you should have mentioned that earlier".

So finally they all get out and one guy asks me to wait while he figures out what his plan is and that he is probably not going to stay here. Why the fuck would I wait for you to take you somewhere else when you spent your entire welfare check in three days and were completely disrespectful towards me and had no money.

Once they were out of the car I locked the doors and drove off. FUCK YOU.

My next trip was a student standing on a corner downtown. I let him in and asked how his night was and he says to the effect "I passed out on a couch and when I woke up everyone around me was smoking crack".

He was seriously pissed right off that his old work buddy had taken him to this place and had allowed him to ingest crack fumes against his will while he was "sleeping" on the couch.

Once I got him to his place he mentioned "yeah by the way someone pissed on your seat because it is all wet". I felt the seat and he was right, that fucking bitch from my previous trip. It wasn't wet enough that I thought she had blatantly peed on the seat to spite me. I think she had just pissed herself earlier and the residual was left on my seat.

It ended my night right there. I mean I can't drive people around with a pissed soaked seat.

Comments

All comments are welcomed.


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