Brooklyn Cabbies suck

I was in Brooklyn for a company offsite meeting. As the Brooklyn Marriott is only a few miles away from where Camie and James live, of course we made plans to meet up.

The only hitch in the evening was how hard it was to catch a cab to Camie's place. The first cabbie that drove to her place was incredibly rude. As in, I opened the door and asked if he was available. Awkward silence. I ask the question again. He asks me where I'm going. I tell him Park Slope. More awkward silence. I ask if he can take me there. Awkward silence and then a mumble. I tell him that I'm sorry that I didn't hear him but can he take me? He brusquely tells me to get in.

At the end of the evening, Camie helps me catch a cab. I get in and ask him to take me to the Brooklyn Marriott. The cabbie asks me where that is in Brooklyn. Of course I have no idea and I tell him so. He tells me he's not from Brooklyn and can't take me since he doesn't know where it is. I get out of the cab and Camie's shocked. I tell her what just happened and she immediately is pissed at the cab driver and tells me we should write down his medallion number and report him, since NYC cabs are not allowed to turn down any fares. I tell her it's not worth the effort and instead, we use a car service. I get in and we're driving down the block and the driver asks me where I'm going (this is after we told him Brooklyn Marriott, he said ok, and went to get the car). I say Brooklyn Marriott and he asks me what street it's on. I'm thinking to myself, oh lord, not again. I call Camie and luckily, she answers, can't believe that he doesn't know where the Marriott is because, as she puts it, it's the only damn hotel in Brooklyn. She is able to look up the hotel on her iPhone. I give the driver the street name and he says, "Oh, the Marriott!" I apologize, telling him that maybe I didn't pronounce it the right way, and he says no, he didn't recognize it until I said the street. Crazy.

I know cabs are the way to go in NY but I just hate taking cabs in general. Yes, they can be convenient, but I feel like you are at the cab driver's mercy in terms of how he gets you there. I also feel that 9 out of 10 are rude and distrustful, and out to squeeze as much money as possible by tacking on extra charges when they don't think you're paying attention. Don't get me wrong, I have had some excellent conversations with some very nice cab drivers, but I think they suck most of the time!

The highlight of the night, other than drunkenly sampling chocolates from The Chocolate Room, was watching poor Freddie (who's been suffering from doggie diarrhea the past couple of days) plunk his butt down on the sidewalk every couple of steps to cool it off. As seen below. And yes, that is a Pumpkin Lover shirt he's wearing.