Taxi Rejection :(

Mike and I decided we wanted to buy a little table for our kitchen area and so we began browsing craigslist for small tables that would fit in our little dining area. After a few days we came across one that was perfect, four chairs, drop leaf, sturdy wood, it was exactly what we were looking for. We took the bus to Prospect Heights and bought the table and chairs with no fuss.

Our original plan was to take the table and chairs back by bus, since the craigslist ad only showed two chairs in the picture, not four. After purchasing and carrying everything down the stairs to the street we realized there was no possibility of carrying four unstackable chairs and a table between two people. So Mike called the taxi service we had used previously and requested a taxi van be sent to pick us up. The operator on the other end checked if they had vans and then said one would be by in no time at all. After about 15 minutes we began to worry and so Mike called again, they said it would be 10-15 min. I began to get restless and feel like we were wasting time when there was a main street of Brooklyn just two blocks away that had numerous taxis and taxi vans driving by. So I began my walk out to Flatbush Ave to hail a taxi van, have it drive to pick up Mike and the table and chairs, and then drive us home to Park Slope.

Being my first time to ever hail a taxi I was a bit unsure of the procedure but figured I'd seen it done in enough movies and in Sex and the City so it shouldn't be too hard. I spot the first taxi van, wave my arm at it, and it pulls up next to me. I'm thinking, "that was easy!" The driver asks where I'm going and I say South Park Slope, he replies, "No, I'm not going that direction." What he meant was he was driving into downtown Brooklyn whereas Park Slope is in the opposite direction. So I wave at the next taxi van, it pulls over, asks where I'm going and the driver doesn't say anything. I assume this means he'll take me but when I go to open the door its locked. I look at the driver and he goes, "Nah, not going that way." A regular taxi cab sees this rejection and stops to ask where I'm going. I tell him Park Slope but that I have a table and four chairs as well. He says his trunk has junk in it so we won't fit. I'm starting to get really discouraged, especially since the original taxi service we called still has not arrived! One more try with a taxi van driving by ... he seems to be ok going to Park Slope but then when I say we need to go down a few blocks first and pick up my husband and the table he decides he deosn't want to do that. So I've now been rejected four times!

I realize that I've been hailing taxis driving towards downtown, so I should try going to the other side of the street and get one already going south, toward Park Slope. I begin walking on the other side of the street but notice that I haven't seen a single open taxi, let alone a taxi van. I continue walking towards downtown hoping that the closer I get, the more taxis there will be. Mike during all this was still waiting on the side of the street with the table and chairs. I'm now about a half mile away from Mike when he calls to say the original taxi service we called just called his phone to say they are 3 blocks away. SO... I RUN back the half mile, in flip-flops, only to get there and there is still no sign of the van!!! At least the original taxi finally did arrive within 5 minutes and drove Mike, the table, the four chairs, and myself home to Park Slope.