Completely O/T but...

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Posted By: Steve M.

I just have to say something about that woman in New York who left her laptop and 30 odd diamond rings in a taxi.

Following the discovery the cab driver spent several hours tracking her down so the items could be returned.

What did she give him as a reward? A lousey $100.

Now the topper to all this is that the cab driver did this nothwithstanding that the lady had given him a 30 cent tip!

Shame, shame, shame!!!

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Posted By: barrysloate

I didn't hear this story. When did it happen?

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Posted By: Steve M.

Happened yesterday. Piece this morning on one of the TV morning shows highlighted the incident. Diane Sawyer was all for outing this woman, or so it appeared.

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Posted By: Steve f

Boy, her husband must love when she goes to work.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Honest-Cabbie.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

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Posted By: Steve M.

for that link. And I want to say now, publicly, that I apologize for all of my evil thoughts about New Yorkers. I should have known she was from Texas.

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Posted By: Steve f

"The woman from Dallas asks that her name not be made public". Ha! How long will that last?..

Most peeps I've met in NYC were top notch humanitarians. Though often, they tend to put on a facade when out and about. Bostonians are no different.

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

A 30 cent tip on a $10.70 fare? How freaking cheap. I would have probably given the driver $2.30. These people from Texas...they just have no good, clean American values!

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

You're supposed to tip cab drivers? I've never ridden in a cab before so I didn't know that. Is it the same as waiters/waitress? 15%.

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Dan, kind of...but you sort of just round off sometimes. Like a trip that's $4.10 you'd just give $5 ususally. I tend to give around 20-25% on average. It's like the hardest and most dangerous job in the world and these drivers just get tortured by consdescending, monied jerks all day.

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Posted By: Chad

You really have to have a brusque exterior or you'll get bothered a lot. I'm a Californian but I learned quickly how to put on the New Yorker facade so that I wouldn't get harassed by people with flyers, or the Falun Gong, or panhandlers, or just those who are slightly wacko and want to draw you into a conversation about how Mayor Bloomberg stole the election from their buddy Fred. It's not that we have more crazies than other places, it's just that it's so dense with people, that you run into them a lot more often. Also, because there's so many people here, a lot of New Yorkers go into a kind of zone in which you create your own mental space so that you don't feel overwhelmed by it all. When I'm in this zone, and a tourist asks me directions, it takes me a minute to gather myself, as if I've just been wakened. Next time you visit NYC and ride a crowded subway, watch how carefully people avoid eye contact and physical contact with each other. It's a freakin art form!

--Chad

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Posted By: Steve M.

this is not a thread about New Yorkers. I have always found them to be warm, caring creatures, not unlike those we have here in Chicago. If we're going to blast anyone it is those Texans and the evil he has wrought upon us.

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Posted By: barrysloate

New York is a piece of cake...I've lived here my whole life, and I actually find it low maintenance (except for the dreadful traffic). But you have to tip cabbies, it's a tough job and they don't make a lot of money.

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Posted By: Chad

My girlfriend spent half her childhood in Waco and the other half in Illinois. She never speaks of the time in Waco. When I bring it up, I get the look. She hates everything Texas. Even Whataburger.

(That said, I've had some great times in Texas. Austin and Dallas and Ft. Worth. I'm hoping to get to the far south of Texas one day soon to see some desert birds and other critters and take a picture or two of them.)

--Chad

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Posted By: Darren

Call me outdated, but honesty is its own reward.

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Posted By: David Vargha

Really now, you should never tip someone less than a dollar. I don't care if all you had is a cup of coffee and the refills or if you had a lousy $3 cab fare.

DavidVargha@hotmail.com

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Posted By: Steve M.

and the cabbie at first declined any reward. It was only after the lady insisted that he accepted. Not old fashioned at all.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

So what is the problem here? the 30 cent tip or the $100 reward? or Both? Is the press trying to go out of their way to make this lady a fool? How would they know that this lady only tipped 30 cents...the Cab driver must have told them. If he at first refused the reward and was just doing it for honesty's sake then why did he even go to the press?

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Sounds like a left-wing plot to embarrass the President's home state. Those damn secular lefties!!!

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Probably a New York Times exclusive.

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Exactly, Dan. The NY Times teamed up with the ACLU to embarrass Texas as a whole.

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Posted By: Steve M.

I know that this has been asked before but I'm too lazy to search the prior threads so I'll ask anyway. Dan, how do you get your smiley face to wink?

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Posted By: Jason L

"Exactly, Dan. The NY Times teamed up with the ACLU to embarrass Texas as a whole."

I think you misspelled the "a whole"....shouldn't it be "A hole" ?
though I could be wrong...

Chad,
there are birds in Texas?

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Posted By: Bob

I always tip cab drivers. 15%, or more if the trip were enoyable and the company entertaining. It is amazing how many cab drivers want to talk about the Prez (Clinton) when they find out I am from Arkansas. When I tell them we know each other (he was my law school professor and I knew him through his campaigns, etc) they are delighted. One African-American cab driver in Vegas told me that Clinton was the first Black president, that they count them as one of their own. It is also amazing how many cab drivers have a friend of relative who has moved to The Natural State, either to retire or because of the weather and hospitable nature of the people. Cab drivers are generally a hard working bunch and deserve the tip in almost every case.
Just my 2 cents...
tbob

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Steve instead of the : use a ; instead and it will wink.

Bob, I have some relatives in Arkansas. My wife and I went to Dallas sometime around 1996 for a sci-fi convention (I was really into Star Wars at the time...still love it) and we were so bored after the first day that we decided on an Antique-trek through Arkansas...First stop was Hope to see the Presidents boyhood home. Believe it or not we just missed him by a few hours and we got to sign the guestbook just a few names below his and Hillary's name. We headed up to Hot Springs for some relaxation...Had fun taking the "Ducks" out on the lake. Got to see some of Babe Ruth's hangouts. Lovely state. Too Hot though.

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Posted By: Jerry

Real Texans don't have vacation homes in Kinnebunkport and the only cabs we ride in is the Cab of our Pick-ups. Don't come down here, we have enough snowbirds already.

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Posted By: leon

I would have tipped at least .35 cents .... Us Texans are all that nice...now about the listing fees and sales fees for the BST pages.....

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Posted By: Chad

Or I'm going to have to spend a lot of time chasing down a gila monster or armadillo or something.

Actually, a friend of mine helps run a conservation group that works with ranchers and other landowners to help protect endangered and threatened species. It's a pretty cool organization and I've wanted to get down there and see some of the land and critters for a while now. I've read recently that the ocelot is making a comeback as well. Lots of good stuff in Texas.

--Chad

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Posted By: Steve M.

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Posted By: Steve f

Wink at me all day, I'm not sharing my Snickers.

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Posted By: leon

I always find it amusing when someone makes a blanket statement about a huge city or state. I always say Houston sucks because I used to live there and had many "experiences" there. In reality parts of any large city, or state, are nice and parts aren't. It's like saying all NY'ers are A-holes and have a chip on their shoulder. When in reality, I know there has to be at least 1, somewhere in NY, that is nice....

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Posted By: davidcycleback

Where I grew up, a lot of people wouldn't have accepted the $100 for returning something that wasn't theirs.

As the driver may have been working on his own time, I don't doubt he deserved compensation-- but it was tacky to tell the press how much someone tips. Many employers would fire employees who went to the press to tell how much named customers tip.

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Posted By: Steve M.

I can name at least three...PH in Albany; BS (Unfortunate initials btw) in Brooklyn and MS.

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Posted By: Joe D.

there is.... but he moved to Jersey.


at the risk of sounding chauvenistic....

edit: to delete the rest.

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Posted By: Jason L

you said, "I know there has to be at least 1, somewhere in NY, that is nice...."

I met that guy once...but he was shot dead while getting out of a cab after giving a $0.25 tip. tragic story, really.

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Posted By: leon

Obviously I was joking.....I have spoken to Barry for literally hundreds of hours in the last few years and conversed with many nice NY'ers otherwise...I wasn't joking about the first part of my statement though....There is good AND bad in all very large citys...so making a blanket statement is a little ignorant, imo.....

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Posted By: Steve M.

of course you were. Pretty sure most of us knew that. Posted so I could use my "new" winky.

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Posted By: Jason L

Nice new winky!

now remember, like Mama always used to say, "Don't go showin' your winky to just anybody, unless you're ready for the responsibility!"

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Posted By: Chad

I bet as I post this somebody is furiously typing, deleting, then retyping an angry retort to Leon's dastardliness.

--Chad

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Posted By: leon

But, if was real evil, I could go edit anyone's statements and make some real funnies . On a different note I get a lot of folks that ask me about cards and so forth.....so am looking at getting some biz cards with Net54 VBC and my own website on it.....For my title I am leaning towards "Dictator"....I guess I could just put "Dick" for short...*(but hopefully not the other way around...if ya know what I mean? (hint hint nudge nudge)...so would "Dictator" pretty much sum it up?

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

I think Jerry hit the nail on the head: it's kind of funny how Texas has gotten so badly bashed for being Bush's state -- and yet any real Texan will rightly tell you that the guy was basically raised in Connecticut. As for Texas, everytime I go there I take a detour to the Sixth Floor Muesum. I just love that place.

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Posted By: Chad

You could be a benevolent dictator afterall. We need a title that reflects both your pureness of evil and the scope of your power. Honestly, I'm at a loss. (OK, I'm not really at a loss, I just can't think of something off the top of my head that won't require me to type 3 or 4 winkies at the end.)

--Chad

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Posted By: barrysloate

Steve- I'm well aware that my initials are BS- maybe I should go with BDS (middle name David)

New Yorkers are great, they are terribly underrated and misunderstood and of course you can't stereotype a whole group- except anybody who doesn't live in NY, then it's fair game!

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Posted By: Alan

Alright,... lets get back to our regularly scheduled programming...