Cab Drivers

So the clocks are back. I don't know why they got rid of them for the holidays. Both of the people who weren't there yesterday were back today, too. Although for one guy's case, just to collect his holiday pay. Apparently you only have to show up for your first shift that was originally scheduled. He's a manager now at the other place he works! He brought in a ton of timesheets and passed them out to the temps. Only me and one other guy took, so we split them, and now I've got enough that I'll never have to go to the agency again!

They put me on a different line today. You know that guy I gave all the quotes for? Yeah, he was my trainer and supervisor. The work wasn't so great, either. It's like spinning, but you're standing up, and you're alone most of the time. On the plus side, you might get kind of buff doing that. Lifting heavy car parts and putting them on platforms, shoveling metal gears...

There are two taxi companies in Guelph: Red Top and Canadian Cab. You non-Canadians might be familiar with Red Top, but probably not Canadian Cab. I started off with Red Top, and moved into Canadian the past two days. I can't tell any difference in the amount they charge, the wait until they get here, how long it takes them to get to the company, or the quality of the drivers. I wonder if people have a preference. It seems to me, when two companies are too similar to one another, one chokes the other out. It might come down to something as trivial as which name comes up first in the yellow pages, but it seems weird that two exactly identical services come from two different thriving companies.

The two cabs that got to my company the fastest were driven by people who weren't sure where they were going. At first I thought this was strange, but then I thought of something: the people who aren't sure are in a rush, because things might get bad if they make a wrong turn, they'd have to make up for it, whereas the people who are confident know they can milk a couple extra dollars.

The guy driving the Canadian Cab was the same person both times, while I've never had the same person twice through Red Top.

I guess cab drivers never get a vacation. That's what one lady basically said. No weekends, either. I have to take cabs when everything else is a no-go, which means they're the last people working.

Yo, let me tell you about Tim Hortons (I misspelled it "Hortens" last time). Yeah, so I went in a second time. This time there's three of us instead of four. I'm standing behind them in line, the one guy who buys goes up front, makes a bunch of orders. I don't know if he ordered for me like he did last time. The other guy goes to the place to collect his coffee, so I know it's routine he orders for him. I'm up, and I don't know if I'm ordering or waiting. So I lean over, say, "Hey, did you..." motion over my shoulder. Hesays "Oh no, I didn't get one for you!I'm sorry!" I say "Nononono, no worries." and order.

Terribly awkward. A kind action makes something as simple as going to Tim Hortons stressful.

Also, interestingly enough, I stuck around this time, and, they don't hang out together after the coffee has been distributed.