Adventure in Brooklyn
I was too tired to write about this yesterday but check this: I was sent out on an assignment to pick up some of our client's products. Since our product is motor oil and people don't drive in Manhattan I had to go another borough to pick up the product. Mind you the product was about 10 2 gallon jugs of our competitor's oil.
I made a few calls to different auto stores in Brooklyn hoping to pick them up in one stop. The best I could do was find two stores semi close to the other to pick up the product. I expected to be out for just one hour. I even scheduled a conference call with one of the clients I do freelance writing for. The assignment ended up being a horrible 4 hour trip. So here is the breakdown of the trip:
Money is low and I don't have my car so I relied on the subway and buses to get me where I needed to go. Prior to arriving at the auto store I got instruction on which bus to take. I ride out to Brooklyn to pick up 6 bottles of the product. I haven't been working out and this mug is heavy. Add that to the fact that I had to walk several blocks to get to the bus stop. All my ducks were in a row but I couldn't seem to find a bus station for the bus I needed. Needless to say, the ducks I thought were in a row were not, and I have these heavy bags to carry and its HOT.
I go into a few stores to ask for directions. I come across several people that flat out don't speak English, several people that are clueless, several people ignore me, and finally one gives me directions. I find the bus I need, but the driver lets me know that they do not go down the road that I need to go to. He tells me I'm about 10 blocks away from where I need to go. So I walk, still carrying the 6 2 gallon jugs with me, which by now feels like it weighs a ton and the plastic bags are breaking. The sun is beaming and my white button down is drenched in sweat.
I make it to the store and buy the rest of what I need. As I exited the store, I decided that I could sacrifice a few bucks on a taxi to give me some relief from hauling 10 jugs of oil around. The subway was only 4 blocks away so it wouldn't cost that much. I find someone, hop in and head to the subway. Well, this guy did not have a meter and charges me $5 bucks for what is clearly less than that. Even though I'm writing the abbreviated version, I went through a lot that day. I decided not to even argue with paying him.
It took 45 minutes to get from that end of Brooklyn to Midtown Manhattan. Throughout the adventure I had to push back the conference call with the freelance client because the assignment was taking me longer than I expected.
My advice: Give yourself an hour to go from borough to borough. Know how often buses run and where they run. Have enough money to take a cab for assignments that involve carrying heavy or semi-heavy material. I definitely won't forget this experience.
I made a few calls to different auto stores in Brooklyn hoping to pick them up in one stop. The best I could do was find two stores semi close to the other to pick up the product. I expected to be out for just one hour. I even scheduled a conference call with one of the clients I do freelance writing for. The assignment ended up being a horrible 4 hour trip. So here is the breakdown of the trip:
Money is low and I don't have my car so I relied on the subway and buses to get me where I needed to go. Prior to arriving at the auto store I got instruction on which bus to take. I ride out to Brooklyn to pick up 6 bottles of the product. I haven't been working out and this mug is heavy. Add that to the fact that I had to walk several blocks to get to the bus stop. All my ducks were in a row but I couldn't seem to find a bus station for the bus I needed. Needless to say, the ducks I thought were in a row were not, and I have these heavy bags to carry and its HOT.
I go into a few stores to ask for directions. I come across several people that flat out don't speak English, several people that are clueless, several people ignore me, and finally one gives me directions. I find the bus I need, but the driver lets me know that they do not go down the road that I need to go to. He tells me I'm about 10 blocks away from where I need to go. So I walk, still carrying the 6 2 gallon jugs with me, which by now feels like it weighs a ton and the plastic bags are breaking. The sun is beaming and my white button down is drenched in sweat.
I make it to the store and buy the rest of what I need. As I exited the store, I decided that I could sacrifice a few bucks on a taxi to give me some relief from hauling 10 jugs of oil around. The subway was only 4 blocks away so it wouldn't cost that much. I find someone, hop in and head to the subway. Well, this guy did not have a meter and charges me $5 bucks for what is clearly less than that. Even though I'm writing the abbreviated version, I went through a lot that day. I decided not to even argue with paying him.
It took 45 minutes to get from that end of Brooklyn to Midtown Manhattan. Throughout the adventure I had to push back the conference call with the freelance client because the assignment was taking me longer than I expected.
My advice: Give yourself an hour to go from borough to borough. Know how often buses run and where they run. Have enough money to take a cab for assignments that involve carrying heavy or semi-heavy material. I definitely won't forget this experience.
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