Day 81- Welcome to San Diego

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A little story about my welcome to San Diego on Sunday evening…

Once I got my bag from baggage claim I went outside to find a shuttle to take me to the hotel.  After a few minutes I was on my way, along with 3 other passengers.  My hotel was the first stop, so not 15 minutes after leaving the airport I was checking in at the hotel, after paying the driver the $9 fare for the ride.

About an hour later, a woman at the front desk calls my room and tells me that the shuttle driver was back.  After confirming that I was the passenger he was looking for, she put him on the phone to speak with me.  As it turns out, when I paid him, I thought that I handed him a $20, when in actuality I had handed him a $50.  I very rarely have a $50 bill on me, so it didn’t even occur to me in the dim light outside the hotel entrance to double check what I was giving him.  And he didn’t notice, so he gave me change for a $20.

Once the driver finished dropping off the other passengers, he was going through his cash and saw the $50 bill.  I was the only cash-paying customer on the trip (the others were pre-paid) and he figured it must have been me, so he drove back to my hotel and sought me out in order to give me the remaining $30 change!  How easy would it have been for him to say “tough shit”, pocket the money and go on his merry way? Sure, I would have noticed, eventually, but it would have been too late.

I’ll be calling his company’s office on Monday to express my appreciation to his boss. I did give him an extra tip for his time and consideration (after I got his name and van number), but his boss should know as well.

So that would the highlight of my welcome.  On the other hand, there is the decor in my room :-/

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