Well, I started my job as a cab driver last Saturday. So far it has been going OK. My shift is from 3AM to 3PM. It has been hard waking up early in the morning, but I am getting the hang of it.
Now, since this is a thread by me, I have to vent. Today, I went to the cab area early in the morning, like I normally do. I was told that today I would be put on call. Meaning that I would be given a cab only if someone who was scheduled to get a cab didn't show. OK, that was fine with me. So I was waiting there and I started talking to one of the other cabbies. We then got to a conversation where he told me if I knew what my rank was. (Your rank is based how much money you average a day in rides.) I told him that I didn't know. He told me that when a driver is on call he will get a cab based on his rank. The cabbies who are higher ranked get first shot at a cab. So we go inside the office and see, on the bullitin board the ranks of all the new cab drivers. Out of 26 drivers, there was my name at the very bottom, DEAD LAST! In other words, I had the lowest rank!
At that moment, all my negative feelings came back to me. I kept thinking: I shouldn't be in this job, I'm not good enough, I don't belong here, Everyone is better then me, I should start looking for another job, I suck, and so on. I was also afraid of the possibility of being fired! I don't know if I am making a big deal over nothing, but if I lose this job, I will have to go back to Houston. God, that is the last thing I want to do! I want to stay here in Las Vegas!
Anyway, after I while, I was told to go home and come back tomorrow. I didn't mind missing a day. I needed the R and R, but I was still in panic mode. I thought, "What if don't work tomorrow?" "Could this mean that my days are numbered?" Damn it! This is what exactly what I was afraid was going to happen.
I understand that I did have several disadvantages: 1) I just came to Vegas three months ago, so don't know all the short cuts and paths as well as other cab drivers do. 2) It is only my first week on the job. and 3) My social skills are in the toilet and since being a cab driver requires you to deal with people, this is not exactly a plus.
Also when I got home, I took a nap and had a bad dream. A nightmare you could say. Which is strange since I don't have too many of those. I don't remember what the nightmare was about, but I do remember in the dream that I knew I was dreaming, but that I couldn't distinguish reality from my dream. It was really scary! Imagine the movie "Vanilla Sky." The reason I mention this is because I think my dream may have had to do with my job.
Anyway, thanks for reading my story and I'll let you know what happens in regards to my taxi job in the future
