Baby Steps

So... in case you're wondering...

I rolled into the Houston Yellow Cab office on Thursday and had an interesting interview with the person who, for a better word, wrangles the new cabbies. She seemed like a nice lady with some interesting insights into her business and the way it runs in Houston. Naturally, I'm not walking into this with my eyeballs taped shut. I knew that I was going to get the rosiest possible picture painted, but I'm glad she wasn't BSing me, either.

Basically, I told her about my current work situation. Namely, that I was working Sunday through Wednesday night and I wanted to make MORE on my weekends, at least as a start. She was beaming when I told her I was available Thursday through Saturday. I figured those are hot button days to work in the cab business. So, she started going over nuts and bolts with me.

BTW - the actual company name is "Greater Houston Transportation Company," which includes Houston Yellow, Greater Houston Cab Company and a Spanish-speaking arm, Taxis Fiesta. I assume that this allows the company to operate in cities other than Houston in the Harris County area. The first, which I enjoyed, was the fact that they run a shuttle service for prospective "enrollees" (not employees, apparently) to take folks and their paperwork to the Houston courthouse annex where their warrants are checked. There's a humorous story attached to this later, of course. Then, the same shuttle runs folks out to the airport to get their fingerprints and apply for their airport badge. I know some cities require a separate airport permit, so I'm glad that GHTC integrates this into their entry process. I get handed the applications for the City and Airport System, which have a curious item attached.

References.

Now, here's the thing. Normally, when you apply for a job, you write in your own references, their addresses and telephone numbers and your employer never calls. In the City application, they want your references to complete the form themselves and SIGN the goddamned form. Whoa. Granted, my reaction is based at least in part on the fact that I've never done it that way before. Another part is based on the fact that I've held at least a dozen security jobs in my lifetime, and no one's ever checked my references. Again, this is related to the humorous story I will share with you later (see me completely whoring the payoff on this?). How do I know this? The references I usually use are guys I can count on to say, "Hey, this bozo called me about you." This is especially true in the entertainment business because we all want to tell the other guy, "Hey, brah, I put in a good word for you with this guy when he was wondering what you've got under the hood." Otherwise, one of the biggest self-serving bullshit stories in small business is that your references get checked. Unless you're working for a business with heavy security concerns, you're lucky to get your criminal background checked, let alone your references.

Lesson: cities are serious about at least looking like they're interested in your character as a cab driver.

We shook hands, she complimented me on my shirt and I left her office wondering where I was going to track down some references. I didn't have to wonder for long.

One of the long term relationships I've cultivated in the entertainment business has been the 5-year association I've had with Taping For The Blind in Houston. I started looking for a while to give my time and talents after cancer took my mother all those years ago. I originally started by trying to pitch myself to the local Cancer Society office as a guy who could produce PSAs for them for free, and they decided to complain about how folks put their commercials on in the middle of the night. So, in circuitous fashion, I wound up at Taping as a way of using my talents to give to a group of people who could benefit the best from them. Regardless of how the cab-driving goes, I will always record for them. In fact, today, I decided to roll in and record my weekly show for Sports Illustrated. I've been doing SI for the last 2-plus years and I'd just come off a holiday where I wasn't able to make it in the last couple of weeks.

I collected my references. =)

They answered questions like "is he trustworthy," "does he have good character," "does he abuse alcohol or do drugs." Lucky for me, not all of their answers were "yes."

So, the next day, I caught the shuttle and had an interesting conversation with an Airport Security Officer, who decided to tell me that a 12 dollar an hour job was waiting for me at the airport if driving a cab ever gets stale. Somehow, I get the feeling that it's not going to be the same job every day, other than the driving part. I suppose that I'm one of the weirdoes, in that I fully expect that maintain a positive attitude consider that I do the same thing on the job I currently have. There are a lot of sadsacks in the contract security business and I've always been complimented on my ability to work with people. I just get the feeling that I'll do at least a little better than what most people expect. Hell, I know what my prejudices about the profession are. Sure enough, I met a few folks that didn't disappoint me.

I ran into a guy I seemed to have seen before. He was constantly jabbering and friendly... kind of like someone who was really happy to just have a chance to be alive and free. He was a little older, and completely full of shit - especially when he started bragging about having knowledge of "every nightclub in town." A new one opens all the time, and not every rave has an address, but get on with your bad self. However, he also seemed to recognize me, but he wasn't sure of my goatee. And I said, "So, Stringfellow, huh?" His eyes grew wide and I said, "It's all good, brah. If you've done your time and paid back, you're good with me."

I'd seen this guy during my very short time as a cadet with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and he was an inmate at one of the Ramsey unit prisons. Like I said, if he's paid up, then he deserves a chance to make a dollar and be a part of society. You don't put people in jail to not have them come back out. The thing that actually had my stomach churning a little was I think I actually had to strip-search this cat... and I think that's why he had the saucer-eyes, too.

Anyway, I got my warrants checked at the city and the airport seemed to love me (being able to swap war stories with the security staff didn't hurt). However, my friend from the prison system was denied the opportunity to pick up at the airport. He can drop off all he wants, but he can't pick up - where is most of the money comes from for cabbies since most off-the-airport-strip hotels have their own airport shuttle services for free. So, you have to go get the people who want to leave the airport and go home (or a hotel) directly instead of sharing a shuttle with the masses.

I came back and the customer service ladies asked me when I could take my classes. Yep, GHTC actually has four days of classes before they'll let you go out in one of their cars. Since I work 12-hour watches Sunday-Tuesday plus half of Wednesday, they approved me to bite the bullet and take the Wednesday and Thursday classes first, and then pepper in the Monday and Tuesday classes over the course of the next 2 weeks. That time frame pretty much fits, since it's at least 10-14 days to get my airport badge and city taxi license. So, at the very least, I'm going to be working security for another 4 weeks, probably 6 to 8 - and then I'll drive Thursday to Saturday until I get my owner-operator opportunity.

The transition in has been laid out in a manner that can be as easy as possible, really. My first day's lease on a cab will be $9 and then go up gradually until I reach the maximum of $97.50 a day. By then, I'll definitely be pounding down the door of the boss lady to talk an O&O opportunity and a monthly lease on a cab of my choice, instead of the wunderbox of the week.

Oh yes, the humorous story... or maybe, not so humorous, depending on how you look at it. Last night, after my security company called me into work the day before and I told them I wasn't available for anything else this weekend. I re-explained myself and then got the sob story from the field supervisor who was sitting the post, "Well, the dumb lady we put out here got pulled over by the police and she had warrants... and..."

And, you didn't do a background check to see if her warrants were clear? Have fun sitting the post. I enjoyed my Saturday night off. It may be one of my last for a while. I probably won't blog again until I've finished the classes. It ought to be fun to see how that goes.

-ManMan