Calling a cab: It ain’t what it used to be.
Do you remember the days when you actually had to pick up the phone and call for a cab? THat was the old days. Now just use the app on your phone.
We don’t use cabs very often. But there are times – the car might be in the shop or we need to get to the airport and don’t want to pay the parking fees there. Or of course,if you’re eating out, a cab does away with the need for a designated driver – everyone can enjoy their wine.
The Yellow Cab phone app is available in many areas of the country and it makes life so easy. It stores your details so that booking your taxi is simplicity itself. (It takes three taps). You can order your ride for right now,or book in advance if you wish.
This is wonderful for me as a Brit in the USA – even after twenty-odd years here my accent is sometimes unintelligible to people at the other end of the phone.And if they too have strong accent, then conversations can be almost impossible. But with the app, it’s just tap,tap, tap. No misunderstandings. Perfect. (And as someone who ordered a delivery pizza with a extra topping of black olives, only to have it delivered with broccoli, I speak with feeling).
But the absolute best thing, as you can see from the screenshot above, is that the system uses GPS to locate the nearest available cab and you can watch in real time as it makes its way to your location. It not only convenient, it’s fun. It’s very practical though. Knowing exactly where your cab is means that you know whether you’ve got time to change your t-shirt before it arrives. When it gets to the end of your street, you can be waiting efficiently right outside on the street.
Even better, the app is completely free. You can get it from the app store.
Now if only our local pizza delivery place had a similar app. ‘Your pizza with broccoli is just going into the oven’.
‘No – it should be black olives!’
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