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This is an older story, but it deserves to be told.
So, back in 2002, I was "going out" (inasmuch as you can) with a girl I met online. Yes, I know she was a girl, because we exchanged phone numbers and had been talking to each other for close to a year by this point. So we were technically an item. Finally, we both work up the nerve to actually meet, and I buy train tickets to go and meet her up in Boston, where she lives, and stay with her for the weekend.
I go up on Friday, and as fate would have it (I swear to god, we did not actually plan this), the day we first met is Valentine's Day. I buy her a few roses from a flower-seller in the train station, we meet, we have a good time, etc.
I'm supposed to go home on Sunday, but when I call home, my folks warn me, "Don't come home. There's a blizzard hitting the area. Even if the train makes it all the way into DC, the Metro's not running to above-ground stations, and there's four feet of snow in the driveway!"
So I stay an extra day with her and her aunt and uncle (her legal guardians), and switch my reserved coach seat for Amtrak to unreserved coach the next day (Monday). While she and her folks were very gracious and lovely people, I didn't want to impose on them longer than I had to.
Monday comes, they take me to the T-station so I can go to the train station to go home. The blizzard is starting to hit Boston by this point. The train's departure is delayed due to an electrical problem, and finally we all board. The train is SRO, but I am fortunate enough to grab a seat, which I DO NOT LEAVE until we pass New York, when about half to two-thirds of the people de-board.
The train doesn't get in to DC until well past 11pm, and there's snow and ice EVERYWHERE. I am fully prepared to spend the night in Union Station until morning, but I go outside to the cab stations to see if I can get a cab to take me to a hotel for the night.
"Anybody for Virginia?" I hear someone calling. I indicate to the cabbie that I am bound for VA, but I don't agree to go with him until he has several other passengers. He explains he's got a 4-wheel drive vehicle (his cab is snowed in), and that "snow emergency fares" will be in effect. Nothing I wasn't expecting to hear. One other person in the group is going to VA, the other two for places in DC.
So the cabbie drops off the two DC people at their hotels, and then the other VA person decides she wants to stay at a hotel as well. Now it's just me going to VA, and I know that things could potentially go bad, but I'm stuck.
But God Bless this cabbie. He takes me all the way to my house, well out of his way. And he only charges me $70, when I heard plenty of horror stories from other travelers that weekend who got gouged for something like $200 for a much shorter trip, their luggage held hostage until they paid up, even.
But I got a much lower amount, and I was so grateful I gave the guy a 100% tip, for going so far out of his way.
Sadly, I don't remember the cabbie's name, or even what company he worked for, so I can't give him the full props he deserves. But he was an awesome guy for doing what he did, and not charging an arm and a leg for doing it.
So, back in 2002, I was "going out" (inasmuch as you can) with a girl I met online. Yes, I know she was a girl, because we exchanged phone numbers and had been talking to each other for close to a year by this point. So we were technically an item. Finally, we both work up the nerve to actually meet, and I buy train tickets to go and meet her up in Boston, where she lives, and stay with her for the weekend.
I go up on Friday, and as fate would have it (I swear to god, we did not actually plan this), the day we first met is Valentine's Day. I buy her a few roses from a flower-seller in the train station, we meet, we have a good time, etc.
I'm supposed to go home on Sunday, but when I call home, my folks warn me, "Don't come home. There's a blizzard hitting the area. Even if the train makes it all the way into DC, the Metro's not running to above-ground stations, and there's four feet of snow in the driveway!"
So I stay an extra day with her and her aunt and uncle (her legal guardians), and switch my reserved coach seat for Amtrak to unreserved coach the next day (Monday). While she and her folks were very gracious and lovely people, I didn't want to impose on them longer than I had to.
Monday comes, they take me to the T-station so I can go to the train station to go home. The blizzard is starting to hit Boston by this point. The train's departure is delayed due to an electrical problem, and finally we all board. The train is SRO, but I am fortunate enough to grab a seat, which I DO NOT LEAVE until we pass New York, when about half to two-thirds of the people de-board.
The train doesn't get in to DC until well past 11pm, and there's snow and ice EVERYWHERE. I am fully prepared to spend the night in Union Station until morning, but I go outside to the cab stations to see if I can get a cab to take me to a hotel for the night.
"Anybody for Virginia?" I hear someone calling. I indicate to the cabbie that I am bound for VA, but I don't agree to go with him until he has several other passengers. He explains he's got a 4-wheel drive vehicle (his cab is snowed in), and that "snow emergency fares" will be in effect. Nothing I wasn't expecting to hear. One other person in the group is going to VA, the other two for places in DC.
So the cabbie drops off the two DC people at their hotels, and then the other VA person decides she wants to stay at a hotel as well. Now it's just me going to VA, and I know that things could potentially go bad, but I'm stuck.
But God Bless this cabbie. He takes me all the way to my house, well out of his way. And he only charges me $70, when I heard plenty of horror stories from other travelers that weekend who got gouged for something like $200 for a much shorter trip, their luggage held hostage until they paid up, even.
But I got a much lower amount, and I was so grateful I gave the guy a 100% tip, for going so far out of his way.
Sadly, I don't remember the cabbie's name, or even what company he worked for, so I can't give him the full props he deserves. But he was an awesome guy for doing what he did, and not charging an arm and a leg for doing it.
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