Post by Ironlord on Feb 17, 2004 19:17:14 GMT -5
Read this before I shunt it off to the Rants thread where nobody will see it.
The scenario:
I drove down Midland Avenue (West to East) to drop off Yolanda on the way to Sainsbury's. This was intended to be the quickest of quick stops - i.e. I stop parallel to the drive between 29 & 31, she jumps out and heads home.
However, the road was, as per usual, reduced to a single-track road with both sides of the road utterly full of cars.
So when I was met by a Toyota coming the other way, I thought he might reverse. He didn't. As I was letting Yolanda out he drove further towards me, flashed his lights and honked. I then saw another car behind him, also refusing to back up.
So, I had to reverse back down Midland Avenue. As I reversed, a Skoda came up behind me. I could see the Skoda was a taxi. So, I pulled into the drive between 29 & 31 and waited for the situation to sort itself out.
It got worse. The Skoda drove up to the Toyota, flashed its lights and honked. The Toyota honked. I saw the Toyota was a taxi. Then, as the Skoda was deciding whether to reverse or not, a Passat pulled up behind it - *another* taxi.
Believe it or not, it was a group of undergrads from the even side of Midland Avenue that had called all four taxis. Not one minibus - FOUR TAXIS. And they shouted loudly to each other as they decided who should travel in which taxi.
Everything unravelled after about ten minutes as the car behind the Toyota finally decided to reverse, as did the Toyota. The Skoda and Passat drove relentlessly forwards.
Meanwhile, I found myself having to reverse left out of the drive, which found me dangerously close to a Peugeot 205, perpendicular to it and with about 6 inches clearance. One attempt to reverse left, without hitting either the Peugeot or a Fiat Punto behind me, was utterly useless. Hence I had to try and reverse right, trying not to hit a Clio behind me, or the Jihadmobile to the left of me, belonging to the fundamentalist Muslims at number 23. This also failed but I could at least straighten up and give myself a bit more room to try and reverse left again. With much guidance from an increasingly frustrated Yolanda, and one time I had to get out of the car and have a proper look for myself to see how much space I'd got to move in, I finally managed a 20-something-point turn between the Peugeot and the Punto. And, by this time there was another taxi behind me, flashing his lights aggressively.
With about a foot each way to maneouvre in, the overall effect was similar to the scene in Austin Powers where he tries to three-point-turn a small electric cart in a narrow passage, and ends up getting it stuck perpendicular to the passage.
And, my final point:
The root cause of this is not the taxi drivers, it is the students that called the taxi. And where, I hear you ask, were they going? Onto campus. Apparently, it's for some hall reunion thing.
Seriously, WHAT THE FUCK?
FOUR TAXIS to get to campus from Midland Avenue? And I'll bet these same students will be protesting about top-up fees next Wednesday because they're so broke. Allegedly.
In my book, these students have entirely lost the right to complain about being broke.
Anyone who can afford to take a taxi for what would be a 20-minute walk, maximum, is not broke in any way.
The scenario:
I drove down Midland Avenue (West to East) to drop off Yolanda on the way to Sainsbury's. This was intended to be the quickest of quick stops - i.e. I stop parallel to the drive between 29 & 31, she jumps out and heads home.
However, the road was, as per usual, reduced to a single-track road with both sides of the road utterly full of cars.
So when I was met by a Toyota coming the other way, I thought he might reverse. He didn't. As I was letting Yolanda out he drove further towards me, flashed his lights and honked. I then saw another car behind him, also refusing to back up.
So, I had to reverse back down Midland Avenue. As I reversed, a Skoda came up behind me. I could see the Skoda was a taxi. So, I pulled into the drive between 29 & 31 and waited for the situation to sort itself out.
It got worse. The Skoda drove up to the Toyota, flashed its lights and honked. The Toyota honked. I saw the Toyota was a taxi. Then, as the Skoda was deciding whether to reverse or not, a Passat pulled up behind it - *another* taxi.
Believe it or not, it was a group of undergrads from the even side of Midland Avenue that had called all four taxis. Not one minibus - FOUR TAXIS. And they shouted loudly to each other as they decided who should travel in which taxi.
Everything unravelled after about ten minutes as the car behind the Toyota finally decided to reverse, as did the Toyota. The Skoda and Passat drove relentlessly forwards.
Meanwhile, I found myself having to reverse left out of the drive, which found me dangerously close to a Peugeot 205, perpendicular to it and with about 6 inches clearance. One attempt to reverse left, without hitting either the Peugeot or a Fiat Punto behind me, was utterly useless. Hence I had to try and reverse right, trying not to hit a Clio behind me, or the Jihadmobile to the left of me, belonging to the fundamentalist Muslims at number 23. This also failed but I could at least straighten up and give myself a bit more room to try and reverse left again. With much guidance from an increasingly frustrated Yolanda, and one time I had to get out of the car and have a proper look for myself to see how much space I'd got to move in, I finally managed a 20-something-point turn between the Peugeot and the Punto. And, by this time there was another taxi behind me, flashing his lights aggressively.
With about a foot each way to maneouvre in, the overall effect was similar to the scene in Austin Powers where he tries to three-point-turn a small electric cart in a narrow passage, and ends up getting it stuck perpendicular to the passage.
And, my final point:
The root cause of this is not the taxi drivers, it is the students that called the taxi. And where, I hear you ask, were they going? Onto campus. Apparently, it's for some hall reunion thing.
Seriously, WHAT THE FUCK?
FOUR TAXIS to get to campus from Midland Avenue? And I'll bet these same students will be protesting about top-up fees next Wednesday because they're so broke. Allegedly.
In my book, these students have entirely lost the right to complain about being broke.
Anyone who can afford to take a taxi for what would be a 20-minute walk, maximum, is not broke in any way.
