ID woes and SC standard time

[bhskittykatt]

Well, I'm going on vacation for a week, but not before these two decided to give me a sendoff.

We made you lose your ID

Now, most lost and found goes into the lost and found room. Exceptions are ID and credit cards, which we usually just tuck into the till drawer.

*phone rings*
Me: *spiel*
SC: "Yeah, my name is [something I didn't catch] and I'm trying to rent a car here and I left my ID there, so I need you to send it to me ASAP."
Me: *flicks open till, sees no IDs* "I don't see any ID's here. What was your name again?"
SC: "I was in room XXX. I checked out yesterday. I know you have it."
Me: That...wasn't what I asked. *does a quick search in computer, finds SC's name, does a quick search of lost & found log.* "I'm sorry, but nothing was turned in."
SC: "No, you see, I know I left it there. I had it out when I checked in. That was the last place I had it out. You guys have it."
Me: "I'm sorry, but nothing was turned in."
SC: "Is there someone else there I can talk to? I left it at the counter. You guys must not have given it back."
Me: "If an ID was left at the counter or turned in, I would have it right here. No IDs were left or turned in."
SC: "WELL THANKS A LOT! I KNOW YOU HAVE IT, BUT YOU GUYS JUST WANT TO MAKE ME GO TO THE DMV!!!" *click*

Exactly how fast are you driving?

A few days ago, I took a reservation. It was fairly standard. I was apparently on speaker in a vehicle with a woman and her husband.

Now technically, to hold a room after 6pm we need a credit card, but if you're driving and on your way, I'll often hold a room for up to an hour without one and then cancel it after that time. I try and verify how long it will be so I know when I can cancel it if they don't show.

[Fairly standard reservation procedure]
Me: "Alright, and do you have a credit card to hold this with?"
Woman: "We're driving, but we'll be there soon."
Man: "We'll be there in a few minutes."
Me: "Okay, no problem."
Woman: "We're at exit....erm....oh, exit [26 miles down the road]."
Me: "Great, so about a half hour then?"
Man: "What?!?! NO! A couple minutes!"
Me: "Um..." thinking maybe they've confused us with another location "...we're off exit [our exit]."
Man: "Yeah, I KNOW where you are! It's not going to take us no stinking half hour to get there!" This guy was seriously aggravated all of a sudden.
Woman: "We'll be there in just a couple minutes."
Me: *shrugs, and makes a note to hold the room for 40 minutes to be on the safe side* "Okay, I'll hold the room for a few minutes for you. We'll see you when you arrive."

If the weather is good (which on the day in question, it was most definitely the opposite of good), and if you don't get busted by a speed trap, you can make it in about 15 minutes. (Speed limit on the stretch in question is about 70mph for half, 60mph for half.) Around 25 minutes is a more sane and legal pace. Personally, I find that number closer to "about a half hour" than "a couple minutes".

Guess who showed up to check in 27 minutes later?

[Sapphire Silk]

Silly girl, he was on SC time, not EST time (or PST in your case I think).

[AmbrosiaWriter]

Who argues with the person offering to hold the room for longer than you think it will take for you to get there? What was the point of that argument other than to argue?

Maybe they were driving for a while and were grumpy from that? I don't know, but seriously, what the flapjack?

[Jester]

Add to the fact that they're morons for arguing about how long it will take them to get there with a person who knows the area far better than they do.

If I'm in a strange place and someone local tells me it will take me about half an hour to get from Point A to Point B, I make my plans with the idea that it will take me about half an hour to get from Point A to Point B, no matter what my map or my instinct say. Because, generally speaking, the locals know the area better than the visitors. And what you think may be the way it is isn't always the way it is.

Perfect example: In Arizona, it is reasonable to assume that if something is 30 miles away, it will take you 30 minutes to drive there. In eastern states, that is simply not the way things work. I remember the first time I drove down the Keys, I figured that since Key West was 150 miles from Miami, it would only take me a couple hours. Oh, how naive I was. Three plus hours later, I arrived for the first time in Key West. And that wasn't due to traffic, either, as all the traffic that day was LEAVING the Keys, it being the end of a three day weekend. No, traffic going my way was virtually nonexistent. But the speed limits of the mostly two lane "highway" going through the Keys vary between 55, 45, and even 35 in some places. And even if you are one to speed, you inevitably would get caught behind someone who is not as heavy on the gas, and there are far more No Passing zones than there are places to pass.

End result: Listen to the locals!

[Cole's Law]

Also, the way highway exit numbering works varies from state to state. In some states, the exit number is the mile marker of the exit, so Exit 17 is five miles away from exit 12. In other states, the exits are sequential-exit 17 is five exits away from exit 12, which could be two miles or fifty miles. They may have thought they were closer than they were. Always messes me up when I head east.

Granted, they're still jerks for arguing about it.

[MoonCat]

Try driving in Ontario. Coming back to NYS once from Toronto, we kept getting turned around and couldn't figure out how we were going wrong. We finally got info at a gas station; turned out we had to take the highway labeled "East" even though we needed to go southwest. Eventually it circles around until you're going the right way to get back to the States. If we hadn't asked, though, we never would have figured it out. We'd probably still be driving around up there!

[Jay 2K Winger]

turned out we had to take the highway labeled "East" even though we needed to go southwest.

I can somewhat relate. I live in Fairfax County, Virginia, which is pretty much due west of Washington DC. But for the longest time, I forgot that, since in my mind, "Virginia is south of DC."

This led to trouble when I'd be driving back from Baltimore (for Otakon) or Philadelphia (for wrestling shows), because I'd take the wrong exit, and take I-495 (the Capital Beltway) south instead of west like I should have. I'd end up taking a longer route to get home, because of that.

Now I know better, and pretty much know the route to the wrestling shows I attend by heart.

[EricKei]

Same issue here -- I get to the WESTbank of my area by taking I-10 EAST as it curves to the SOUTH >_>

[Juggler]

Also, the way highway exit numbering works varies from state to state. In some states, the exit number is the mile marker of the exit, so Exit 17 is five miles away from exit 12. In other states, the exits are sequential-exit 17 is five exits away from exit 12, which could be two miles or fifty miles. They may have thought they were closer than they were. Always messes me up when I head east.

Granted, they're still jerks for arguing about it.

Or you are in CA where, if the exits are numbered at all, we don't speak in terms of exit numbers, nor know them. We just refer to the street name.

[malmalthekiller]

I live in PA, and I have never measured travel distance in the actual length, but by the hours, depending on the time of day.

My friend in CA will always tell me how many miles away something is from her, and I have no concept of what that even means. "Center Philly is 45 minutes away - an hour or more in rush hour," etc.

[Sapphire Silk]

This led to trouble when I'd be driving back from Baltimore (for Otakon) or Philadelphia (for wrestling shows), because I'd take the wrong exit, and take I-495 (the Capital Beltway) south instead of west like I should have. I'd end up taking a longer route to get home, because of that.

Now I know better, and pretty much know the route to the wrestling shows I attend by heart.

Gah. I've done this as well. And I grew up in the DC area.

[Juggler]

I live in PA, and I have never measured travel distance in the actual length, but by the hours, depending on the time of day.

My friend in CA will always tell me how many miles away something is from her, and I have no concept of what that even means. "Center Philly is 45 minutes away - an hour or more in rush hour," etc.

That's funny. I've heard easterners make fun of Californians for giving distance in drive time. Of course in San Diego, due to some localized space-time warpage it is always twenty minutes.

[malmalthekiller]

Maybe I'm just backwards.

[rapana1]

Here we tend to refer to motorway offramps by the suburb they feed to. Sometimes the street.

[lineswine]

Maybe I'm just backwards.

...or cute, depending on your viewpoint! *grin*