Date: 10 December 2010
Day of Chronicles: 23
Hours: 5:00-7:30pm
Rides Given: 1
I am not even going to pretend that I made any progress today towards correcting yesterday's problem. But at least I have positively identified the problem, to wit, not charging enough.
Tonight I pulled a lady off the Penn Station line who was going to 80th between 1st and 2nd. Since I think it's of the utmost importance to spit out a price instantly (so people think I'm legitimate? so they don't have time to reconsider?), I told her $25. A second later, a businessman rushed up to me, wanting a ride, and I had to (chose to?) tell him no, because the lady was already heading towards me. Usually, self-selecting passengers are going short distances; chances are he was not going nearly as far as she was.
In any case - partly because of how traffic is in Midtown during rush hour, and partly because I made the mistake of taking 58th Street east from 6th Avenue - the trip took me an hour and ten minutes. JFC! I thought I was fine with it, right after dropping my passenger off, but as I rolled down Park and then 5th, not getting a ride, I did grow increasingly demoralized.
So. New plan. Pricing therapy. Think before you quote. If you need to spit out a quote quickly, at the very least charge $1 per uptown/downtown block. Tomorrow, try that. And maybe if you can actually get decently compensated for your work, you'll get all jazzed about doing it again.
Another idea that might help: Imagine someone else were giving the ride. Imagine you were getting work for a friend, and you wanted to make sure that person, whose time and energy you value deeply, was generously - or at least adequately - paid.
What can I say? Morgen ist ein neuer tag. (Tomorrow is another day.)
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