US Open “Faults”, Part 2 …

I left you last week with a cliffhanger. At least it was for me! This post will make much more sense if you read it first. Find it HERE!

My daughter, Olivia, and I made it to the US Open after a much longer journey than we had imagined! We categorized it as a “fault”. It wasn’t an “Ace”!

We arrived in our seats with minutes to spare!! Bravo!! We reached the destination on time after our “Where’s Waldo” escapade.

We immersed ourselves in the matches. The pure joy and excitement of being present consumed our attention! We put the hour before in the past and lived in the moment … rightfully so!

Between matches, while waiting in line for a drink, my daughter did a little research on finding another way back to the Airbnb after the last match. She’s the best!!

When the matches finished, after midnight, we followed the cattle herd out to the gate. Liv stopped a second to reinforce her internet findings with the gate personnel. They confirmed her info and added … “there are golf carts available if you want to wait.”

Liv insisted we wait and catch a golf cart ride over to the “Ride Share” area!!

These are two vital keywords we didn’t know … RIDE. SHARE. Turns out there is an entire area, maybe a quarter-mile walk from the gate where Taxis, Ubers, Lyfts, etc. pick up and drop off! Obviously, our former driver knew nothing about this either!

NYC is such a large populated place with so much going on … people know nothing about much of it unless they have done it before! Don’t assume drivers know anything. They function by addresses … ONLY!! Keep that tip in your pocket!!

We arrived at the ride share area along with thousands of other fans about 12:30AM! It was a massive throng of confusion! There was a line to catch a taxi. It looked about a mile long!

We tried Uber, thinking it would be cheaper and quicker. Over here apart from the taxi line, the throng did not decrease, but it spread out more. Every time Liv got a ride confirmed … they cancelled! We tried at least three times!

It also appeared police officers were not letting the line of Uber/Lyft cars stop to pick people up. We are sure there was some kind of order. We just couldn’t figure it out.

It was about 1 AM at this point. We took the option and got in the taxi line! The police were in charge of that and there were multiple lines of taxis rolling in. The taxi line took us one hour. At least the taxi line kept moving, and we didn’t feel confused about the process.

At one point, police officers were trying to instruct people to walk, in the dark, out of the park and get an Uber. They said it would be quicker. We weren’t budging. We did not know where we were or where he was referring to. And it WAS 1 AM!!!

We got back to the Airbnb around 2 AM and guess what ….

THE TAXI WAS MUCH CHEAPER THAN THE UBERS OR LYFTS WE TRIED TO HIRE!! Like HALF the price!!

On the US Open website, there are instructions for Ride Share. We never found them till after we needed them. 😂😂😂

There is an exact address to give the ride share drivers to get to the Ride Share drop off/pick up!!

The next day … we used that address. Our Uber driver didn’t know how to do it and wanted to drop us off way too early, but Liv kept telling him just to keep following the ride share signs. Guess what, we got to the exact location!!

RIDE SHARE SUCCESS!!

To add to our victor-conqueror mood an empty golf cart awaited our arrival. We sorta felt like US Open royalty!!! The stars aligned!

That night, after our matches, which ended before 11:30PM, we headed straight to the taxi line! We still waited about 45 minutes cause everyone exits at the same time, but we were “pros” and felt confident about our choices and whereabouts!

We talked to the police officer while waiting for our taxi. He told us he cannot leave the premises if anyone is still waiting for a ride!! Some nights he has been there till 5am!

That “hanging onto an officer’s leg and plead for help” plan I formulated, would have worked or been unnecessary. They were there to get everyone home! I cannot tell you what a comfort that was for me to hear! The officers showed an incredible amount of kindness and compassion. We thanked him several times for helping us and for serving the community!

The officers ensured our safety by preventing us from being stranded in an 895 acre park with just a phone compass!!!

To NYC Police Officers … I know there are more urgent problems. Thank you for serving us so well and caring about humans who need rides and attend events in your city! Your presence comforted us! And you kept me from making a scene by planning for people like me!! Well Done!!! Bravo!!! You are my friends!!!

You will not believe what was happening at the Airbnb when we arrived!!!

The Story continues next week …

Sorry for another cliff hanger, but it’s too much to write in one post😉

Maybe I should have written a novella, but it’s all true!
What’s that called … oh yeah … a short story😉.

Isn’t there a fancier word like Novella for true stories?

Have you had an experience with the NYPD? Tell us!

Ride Share Victor,

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