Me: Go Ahead
Julie: Go pick up at the main gate (of the navy base).
Me: 10-4
It takes me a few minutes to get here because I was on the other side of town. Whenever the dispatcher gives you a call it’s best to head straight there. All of the radios in our cabs function as a network, so every transmission that is broadcast, between whoever, is heard by everyone in the network. Also, often times by listening to the radio you can figure out where the other drivers are. Today Dauf was listening.
Dauf heard Julie give me a that call a few minutes and thinks that he is closer. Instinctively, Dauf has decided to try and take the call that was given to me. It’s nothing personal, he does this to everyone. He's just a bastard, that's all. I might not have explained this already, but when the dispatcher sends you to a certain location to pick up a passenger, and you acknowledge her/him, then it is your ride/fare – no one else’s. It has been given to you, and everyone knows it because it is transmitted throughout the network. If you want to give it to someone because they are closer, or because they ask you if they can pick it up, well that’s up to you. That’s your prerogative.
There are a number of ways that some of the other drivers try and get around this – by saying that they were already there (which often times they aren’t), saying that the passenger was insistent on leaving immediately, that they didn’t hear the radio (everyone listens to the radio), that the person that they picked up didn’t call, and so on. None of these excuses are very believable. Dauf gave a good example of this today.
So as I arrive at the navy base to pick up my passenger I see Dauf a hundred feet or so in front of me trying to pick up my passenger.
Me: Dauf, what are you doing.
Me: Dauf, that’s my ride
Dauf: What?
Dauf: This guy, were you sent here?
Me: Yes Dauf, but you already know that don’t you.
Dauf: He said he didn’t call. Do you want him.
Me: Yes Dauf, I’ll take my call.
It wasn’t a great ride. About $14. Nothing to scoff at. More than anything it’s the principle of the matter. You just don’t steal from your co-workers. Unless they have previously stolen from you. I believe in retribution. The company believes in passivity. Well let me tell you, passivity gets you nowhere in the cab racket.
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