Master of time

For years I've worn a digital watch that has a stopwatch feature. I never used it much until I started driving cab. Whenever I get a reservation, or time call, I arrive early and then start the meter when the appointed time arrives, and I also start the stopwatch. When the customer finally ambles out of their house and gets in the car they might complain that the meter already shows $5 or whatever. They always (this is a 100% certainty) lie and say they were only "a minute" late. I bring up my stop watch and say something like: "You were thirteen minutes, forty-seven seconds late." Now....I always restart the meter for customers unless they're assholes about it.

The stopwatch works well for the dispatchers, too. When I announce a no-go, they sometimes claim I couldn't have been there more than a minute or two. All argument ceases when I say: "I've been here precisely six minutes and eighteen seconds."