A normal Saturday night.. Bit of an issue with the starter motor on Tango.. just means I can’t stop the engine.. Not really a problem, just uses a bit more juice but still all good..
I spent some time running around Cleveleys and Thornton and then head up to Poulton about 11 o’clock to join the back of the rank.. Work dries up in Cleveleys around that time and so its off to the drunken madness that is the Cube, Thatched, Golden Ball and The Bull… Followed by Residence into the early hours…
Rank up at the back of the queue and wait my turn. Sometimes I can get lucky and if a group of more than 4 want a cab then I bypass all the others and in they jump.. Unfortunately, tonight wasn’t my lucky night. I’ve already done a couple of jobs in Poulton and its getting close to 1am… I eventually got to the front of the queue and a single bloke walks down to the front.. ‘Can you take me to Preesall mate?’ ‘No problem.. Jump in’…
Off I go.. thinking to myself that that’s a nice £15 run out.. get out through Hambleton.. all good… turn up Park Lane and go into Preesall… Go over the bridge and just before Fordstone Lane he shouts out.. ‘Pull Over here’.. I pull over on the left and he asked to get out to get his money out… he opens the door and just walks off over in Fordstone Lane direction! I jump out of the cab and call after him but he still walks fast off down the lane.. I can’t turn off the ignition.. its past 1am and its dark.. Although there is £19.10 on the meter.. do I really want to chase someone down a dark lane, in the middle of Preesall for £20?
So I took it on the chin.. went back to the rank and licked my wounds.. trying to work out if anything I could have/should have done better… At the end of the day it was a 14 mile round trip.. at 20p per mile thats £2.80.. and half an hour of my time..
But I know his face.. and If I see it again I’ll make sure every cabbie in the queue know’s he’s a runner!