Point thar, u has missed it.

[nanila]

I went to Wolverhampton last night to talk about Cassini to their Astronomical Society, comprised of a friendly mix of OAPs, goggle-eyed children and middle-aged enthusiasts. They seemed to enjoy the talk and my company, so I didn't regret the late arrival of my returning train into London (scheduled for 00:04, actual arrival 00:19). I made my way to brother-out-law's house via Tube. I had intended to take a black cab from the station to the house since he was very kindly waiting up to let me in. The following exchange then occurred.

Me: Hi! Please can you take me to [road redacted]?
Black cab driver: I don't know where that is. You'll have to direct me to it.
Me: I know how to get there on foot but you can't drive that route.
Driver, scornfully: You don't know where you're going?
Me: stare Never mind. It's a beautiful evening.* I'll walk.
Driver: Hey...wait...I can try and find it.
Me: dismissive wave
Driver: You sure?
Me: wet nose decidedly elevated Yes.

I think there might be a few gaps in someone's Knowledge.**

* It was raining.
** Black cab drivers in London have to train for years. This training is called "The Knowledge" and it involves memorizing every street in London within a six mile radius of Charing Cross. Brother-out-law's house is within that radius.

Comments

[happydork]

Never mind. It's a beautiful evening.* I'll walk.

Heeeeh! :D

[nanila]

I think I may be assimilating.

[cxcvi]

Taxi drivers in Bristol don't seem to know the road that I live on, either. But at least they know the hospital that is nearby...

Did the driver manage to find it quickly enough?

[nanila]

I walked. I wasn't going to pay someone to attempt to find a place I knew how to get to!

[weaverbird]

What a twit. Did you actually walk or were you able to find another cab?

[nanila]

I walked. Well, jogged. I was just trying to save a little time so brother-out-law didn't have to wait up for me, so jogging probably got me there as fast as casting around for a cab driver who knew where s/he was going would have.

[sunflowerinrain]

I've found that walking (well, in my case wheelchairing) is often faster than public transport and certainly quicker than private car for getting to places in the central London conurbation. Odd that more people don't try it.

[sunflowerinrain]

Unless, of course, it's raining ;)

[sunflowerinrain]

I wonder if $driver was a fake?

[nanila]

I didn't spend long enough scrutinizing the cab, sadly. If that ever happens to me again, I'll be sure to make note of the plates!

[lark_ascends]

You don't know where you're going?

What a jackarse!

[nanila]

Indeed. This is not a good way to convince me that I should be giving you money to ride in your car.

[capri]

I've only taken a cab once since arriving here - my mum really wanted to ride in a black cab just for the sake of it - and it took 10min just for the guy to make a u-turn because he had to go on a complicated series of one-way roads. Thankfully he restarted the meter once we got back to the point we started from, but since then I have decided never to brave the roads of central London in a car.

[nanila]

I don't use them much. I have to be pretty desperate - say, at 4 AM when I just want to get to bed and there haven't been any night buses for 20 minutes.

When the traffic isn't bad, though, it can be fun to see the city from the perspective of a cab.