Driven Mad: Vegas, baby
July 31st, 2009 by Tom Fairchild in News, Sarasota-Manatee
Unusual driving gigs add piquancy to the usual roster of airport transfers and bachelor hoedowns, or “ho-go-downs” as a recent customer named them.
Classy.
Out-of-the-ordinary jobs include those which take us to an unlikely destination, or involve interesting or famous people, or leave one asking plenty of questions. I had an example of the latter last week, one that left puh-lenty of room for speculation.
My dispatch docket showed the time at which a privately owned jet was scheduled to arrive at our wonderful “International” airport, together with the number of people traveling (two) and the address to which I was to drive them. This stank of the unusual, from when I searched online for the owners of this particular jet (a corporation in Las Vegas) to the fruitless quest to find just where the customers’ residence was (somewhere in Manatee County). The street name, or the possible typo-induced variations of it, just didn’t make sense. Curiouser and curiouser. Oh well, the customers should know where they live, and they will speak English despite their obviously Asian name, right?
At the appointed time plus 30 minutes, the $50 million dollar jet taxied to the FBO’s ramp, and I pulled the limo up to the stairway, as close as I could to the plane without giving the ground crew a heart attack. From the glossy interior stepped a Chinese-looking man and his wife, probably in their mid-30s. They spoke no English. I enlisted the help of the two flight attendants, but they had only the same non-existent address as me. No help there.
Eventually, the nice customer called another man who did speak English, who gave me clear directions to their house, which was in a brand new development. It looked like my folks had bought the model. Despite the communication gap, everything ended well.
In case you hadn’t guessed, the jet belonged to a big Las Vegas casino with three Ms in its name. The couple had presumably been flown home at the casino’s expense, but the big question is: Did they win a fortune, or did they lose a fortune?
My tip for a 15-minute ride was $35. I think that’s a clue.
August 2nd, 2009 at 7:30 pm
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