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I am withouth my vehicle at the moment so I had to rely on public lift transport to get me to and from my destination today. Our "Lift Service" here will take you from your door to your destination for the cost of one typical "zone" price of the regular city bus. Sounds great huh? And in an emer situation a blessing.
I left my house this morning and my ride was very prompt and even got me to my destination an hour early (which has it's downside because well I was there too early! LOL) Ok so I had an hour to kill and basically had nothing to do so to me it was wasted time .... and I HATE wasting time. So, I take care of all the business I needed, met with a client, ran some errands , all went well. Time comes for me to meet my ride and it's 45 mins late so I call the dispatcher to inquire. Dispatcher says "Oh the driver was there and waiting for you for 10 mins and finally left, leaving a note on the public bench." 1. There was no public bench outside the business I was waiting at and 2. the normal procedure is for the driver to come into the business/residence they are retrieving you from and inquire as to your whereabouts etc. Standard policy is the driver will wait up to 10 mins for you to board the lift bus. When this driver arrived (early I might add) I was at the checkout counter of the shop paying for my goods (which I might also add is RIGHT next to the front door!) In this type of setting drivers are supposed to check thru the queues in case you are stuck behind Myrtle who's from Nova Scotia and wants to write a personal check with no valid ID. So the driver leaves sans Diana.
So dispatch agrees to send another bus out for me and it will be a 45 minute wait. I say "Ok and thank you so much, I truly appreciate it!"
55 minuntes go by, no bus.
65 minutes.. no bus
Meanwhile a woman appears from nowhere out of the parking lot and asks if she may sit on the stone ledge next to me (as if this were my personal garden). I stammer and say, "Sure, go right ahead." (with a smile cuz I really am a pleasant gal) She seems a bit nervous and had the appearance of someone in need of a fix <wink wink>. She begins to tell me her life story of the day, how she and boyfriend fought and he drove 5 miles down the interstate to leave her in this particular parking lot. Having a brother who was an addict and ran around with a seedy, lying crowd I instantly become skeptical of her and immediately took mental inventory of where my wallet and cell phone were on my person, my parcel on the path next to me and how secluded we were from security's view. She then asks me "How will I get home??"
I replied, "Well dear, where do you live??" I had a sneaky suspicion she lived down the road and I planned a good laugh, however she lived in the next town so I suggested a bus. (Not MY bus though, although at this rate I wasn't sure I'd ever be on it myself). She asked me where to catch the bus and I decided I was so nervous about her wacking me over the head and ripping my bag off my chair and running up my credit cards etc that I was going to say I knew where the bus stop was even if there weren't any for miles. But the kind person I am
, I suggested she go just to the end of the parking lot as I knew public transport ran through there if not stopping there exactly. Besides the police station is on that same corner HEHE. She then asked if she should call the police. Before I knew it the regret formed in my head when I mouthed "Why do you want to call the police??" Did I really want to know why? Did I really want to prod her for more conversation? NO!!!! Her reply was an aggravated one as she said "To take me home!!" I informed her that the police would not just give her a ride home especially when there was a bus stop on the corner outside their station. She snarled at me as if I were the one who dumped her off the freeway. She then went into the shop to use their phone. I used this as my chance to escape and I moved to another area of the parking lot to wait for my ride which was now 30+ minutes late.
I call dispatch asking for an ETA and he replies "They should be there ANY minute now!" I say thank you again and add, "sorry to bug you but there is a crazy woman following me round out here and I really would like to get home." He again says she should be there ANY minute. I sighed , said thank you and hung up . Now my cell phone battery is draining because I was on hold most of the time while calling dispatch. Three hours after my initial pick up time I call dispatch again and tell the poor sod, "Look, I just want a REAL ETA. I've been here over 3 hours and would like to go home." He puts me on hold again and comes back to say, she is at such-and-such intersection, she's new and got lost in this part of town." Just then the driver pulls up and I think I'm on my way home FINALLY. As we were pulling out of the parking lot I had to tell the driver she had left the doors to the lift open. DUH!!
Was this the woman I wanted chauffering me home?? So I make it home, 4 hours after I should have arrived home originally and all I wish for is to turn the key in my door, make a nice dinner and relax away the stress. (oh and I had to cath like a race horse!) I roll up to my mailbox, greet my neighbor with a yawn and a hello and spy a sign on the vator "Out of service today". I was annoyed but thought, ok no big deal as I was the one who called in for repair request as I left the house this morning. The timing on the doors to the vator was off and they were crushing my hands against my chair before I could wheel out of it. No problem, I'll just use the vator in the other wing of my building. Out of service too.
Keep in mind I live on the 4th floor of a high rise building. So with the last little bit of life left in my cell phone battery I phone the super and he dispatches the elevator maintenance company to come out to the site. Their ETA is 1 hour. As I sat watching the sun go down (the same one I watched come up as I left the house this morning AHEM!) I heard the final cry of my cell phone, asking for sweet release of my tightly clenched fingers. Dead. OK now I was praying the guy would show up and I wouldn't need to make another call!
He arrives an hour later and I feel my stress wash away. But wait ...
... there is no key in the lockbox to the service room door in order for him to fix the vator. I decide to tell this guy that I am in dire need of medication that awaited me in my apartment (I just neglected to tell him it said RUM on the bottle ) He considers me for a moment and calls his colleague who was on the site earlier today (also the one who turned OFF the vators) He may have the key to the service room in his work pants he'll call back after he scours his truck. Meanwhile I think I scared the guy on my property so much that before I knew it he had punched the ventilation plate on the service room door in with his fist and extended his long arms up inside enough to unlatch the locked door. I thanked him for having long arms as that was the ONLY thing that ended my nightmarish day! My kitty Lola greeted me at the door, I opened a can of albacore, made a sandwich and shared the leftovers with Lola. The end of my day and thank you for listening, I feel so much better!!!
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to you!
