Letter I had to write to effect much-needed social change

Hello friends, I got back safely from Wilmington, and I even got to fly first class! Only the movie they played was Herbie: Reloaded, so, you know, that kind of took some of the fun out it. The guy next to me thought the movie was great. But he was drunk on all the free airplane booze.

It was when I tried to get from the airport to my house that I had a rather unbelievable experience, which irritated me enough to cause me to Write A Letter.

Ahem.

Dear [Anonymous Shuttle Service]

I have used [Anonymous Shuttle Service] many times in the past few years, both during my time as a college student, and now in my job for BYU, which requires frequent travel. During these trips, I have always had great experiences with your staff and drivers, and I know that many of my colleagues use your service as well. I'm writing because last night I had an experience that did not reflect well upon your company, and I thought you should know about it so that you can remedy the problem.

I took an 11:30pm shuttle from the SLC airport last night (September 21st). I didn't catch the driver's name, but I hope this information helps you identify him. He appeared to be in his 50s, and had silver/blond hair. On the shuttle was another young man named John. He and I were both traveling to Provo. There were also 4 other men who had missed a connecting flight on Delta and needed to find a local hotel for night. We drove to Super 8 first, but it was closed, so they ended up at a different hotel.

My concern is this: The driver spent a good part of the trip expressing to us his dissatisfaction with the routes he was being given. He repeatedly complained in particular about his supervisor sending him to Provo. He was upset because he said that his boss called him back to the office with the promise of a downtown run and instead sent him to Provo again. This driver told us many times that he makes his money from tips, and that driving people to Provo wasn't really worth his time if he could be making more tips by making shorter trips to downtown SLC with more passengers in the van than just one or two.

Needless to say, I thought this line of discussion was inappropriate, so I didn't respond. His remarks, though not hostile towards me and the other passenger, made me uncomfortable. I wasn't about to apologize for living in Provo, or for hiring the services of a shuttle to get me home. I feel that if this gentleman has concerns or complaints about his job, he should share them with his supervisors, rather than with the customers.

We reached Provo and dropped John off at his home. John had been very gracious about our driver's complaints, and showed sympathy for his frustration. After John left the shuttle, the driver stopped the van and turned the interior light on to see what kind of tip John left when he prepaid at the airport. The driver then remarked that even though John's company seems to pay him well for traveling, that sure didn't show up in the tip he left. He then held up the paper to show me the amount of the tip, saying that if he drives someone all the way to Provo then he should get a better tip than that. This was about a young man who had no luggage and who had been very courteous during the entire drive. He'd left the same tip that I left when I prepaid, so I told the driver that he probably wouldn't be happy with mine, either.

I'm sure you would not wish your drivers to speak in such a way to your customers. Maybe this driver was having a bad night, but I didn't appreciate listening to the rant of someone angling for a larger (and completely undeserved) gratuity. I bring this to your attention so that you can prevent this from happening to other customers in the future. Thanks again for the great service you and your other drivers have provided.

Best Wishes,

[Nemesis who does not deserve to be held hostage to the ramblings of cranky hicks when all she wants to do is get freaking home and go to bed, so you'd better fix this.]

The Operations Manager emailed me right back and was properly appalled and apologetic and promised to deal with the situation quickly, which I appreciated very much. I thought about mentioning that the very large businessman next to me smelt strongly of body odor, but I figured that was out of the Operations Manager's control. Plus, I'd been traveling all night too, and probably was not a little ray of freshness myself.

And no, I don't feel bad about turning this guy in, because he already told me that he was thisclose to quitting. Now he'll just get fired instead.

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