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You Can’t Get There from There

You Can’t Get There from There

After dining at North Beach Restaurant last night, we asked the waiter to find us a cab, since the hotel house car was with other guests. He walked us out to a limo he said works for the restaurant, no problem.

The driver immediately took off in the wrong direction. “We’re going to the Mandarin Oriental,” I reminded him.

“Right, Mandarin,” he confirmed.

“But you’re going uphill. It’s the other way.”

“No worries, I’ll go downhill again.”

Six wrong turns and frantic stops and starts later, he finally pulls over and opens up the GPS on his iPhone.

“How long have you been driving a limo here?” I ask.

“Seven months.”

“Seven months, working for restaurants in the Italian section, and you don’t know where one of the best hotels in the city is??!” I ask, astounded.

“I guess I had better learn,” he says.

“You think?!”

He apologizes profusely for the next four blocks as he finally finds the gargantuan Mandarin. He runs around opening both doors, and I give him $10, wishing him well and shaking my head as he apologizes yet again. Then, as I head inside, he yells to us to stop.

“Here!” he yells, “take my card!”

“You mean we should ride with you again?” I said, staring to laugh.

“Sure,” he tells me, “now I know where the hotel is!”

© Alan Weiss 2012

Written by

Alan Weiss is a consultant, speaker, and author of over 60 books. His consulting firm, Summit Consulting Group, Inc., has attracted clients from over 500 leading organizations around the world.

Comments: 5

  • Dave Gardner

    November 9, 2012

    Love it! No self-esteem issue there.

  • Pat Tith

    November 10, 2012

    As you always say, you can’t make this stuff up!

    Regards
    Pat

  • Noah

    November 12, 2012

    Alan, you should check out Uber while here. An incredible startup from San Francisco.

    Uber.com / Uber App on your iPhone.

    Black town cars and escalades pick you up with the click of a button. All via your iPhone.

  • Joseph

    November 12, 2012

    When I read this, it brought a smile. Thanks for sharing. But I will also pat this guy. At least he thought on his feet and immediately replied confidently. How often can we handle rejection well?

  • Alan Weiss

    November 13, 2012

    He was pretty funny, and duly apologetic!

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