pedi-scam

NYC at Christmastime is magical. There are lights everywhere (do they start putting those up in August or something?) and the city just feels like a Christmas wonderland. It's my second year in a row to go at this time, and though I complain of travelling so much for work, I really am SO lucky that I get to experience this for free.

The not magical part? There are people EVERYWHERE. It seems everyone know how amazing it is this time of year. People everywhere = no cabs anywhere. No cabs = standing outside in the freezing cold for even longer.

When we didn't see any cabs pull up, we thought we were being smart by locating a pedicab and jumping it in. It was surprisingly warm under the tarp and "fur" blanket, and it was only a 9 or so block ride.

Our driver was awesome, and he must have been crazy in shape to ride all over NYC with people attached to the back of his bike.

We enjoyed the sights during the ride and joked about how smart we were to take a pedicab - we even got there faster in it because of the insane traffic!

Our driver was very nice and took some pictures for us at the end of the ride. Extra tip for you, kind sir!

At the end of the ride, he plugged in his square and scanned my card. I immediately hit the 25% tip button and only then looked up at the total in the corner.

$193.75 - that had to be wrong!! I changed the tip to 15% and it read $173.45. I looked up in horror and asked our driver if there was some sort of mistake, perhaps it was supposed to say $17.43?

NOPE. The ride is $50 per person plus some sort of cents per block.

I really would have had a panic attack had that ride been on my own dime. Straight up not able to breathe in the middle of the city. Thank goodness I could expense it.

We were all set to brag about our awesome ride, but after that we vowed to not speak a word. Somehow someone at the party brought it up and we asked what she thought of them. Turns out, the city is in the middle of a big pedicab crack down as they are ripping people off right now. Yep, we were definitely ripped off. Seems as though tourists are the only ones who ever take them.

So, word to the wise, wait for a cab. (OR download the Uber app - it is a lifesaver!)

Other scenes from the city:

This is how old people pre-party. Carbolicious.

Baked by Melissa is always necessary. ALWAYS.

Hello, nola. See you again in three hours.

 

We are heading to New Orleans around 1 today. A's team plays in their bowl game tomorrow (Geaux Cajuns!), so we'll be celebrating that all weekend.

 

PS - can you believe Christmas is on Tuesday?! The insanity of EOY for me really takes all the fun out of the anticipation. I am so glad I saved some days off so I could have all next week off. I need to hit the refresh button. I'm looking forward to being able to post more & read more blogs - and keep that up into 2013!