This morning I was the victim of a driver who lied about his real destination. He drove a grey VW (Golf/Jetta? Not a Beetle) with 2 small stripes down the side. I use the Old Hechinger lot in Woodbridge at Old Bridge and 123 to pick up rides. The lot is basically for 14th and 18th Street riders (I can take either, since I work at 15th and K.) He was at the front of the line, and sluggers were passing him by, which should have made me suspicious. He said "18th + L." I got in and asked if I could get off at K, which of course is no big deal. He sort of didn't "process" this request in the typical way; now I know why. Anyway, he took the Parkway exit as is usual for 18th St. drivers, but when he crossed the Memorial Bridge, he immediately got in the left lane, which is MUCH slower. Normally, you stay in the right lane, all the way around to the last street near the Lincoln Memorial, where you wind left and then make the right turn right at the light on to Constitution Ave. But he took the left turn at 23rd street. Had I been bolder, I would have spoken up right here, but I still held out hope that he had some kind of funky short cut in mind, so I said nothing. He proceeded up the (very slow and congested!) way past the State Department, then turned right on F St. through GWU. Then he hung a left on to 20th St. Now I started figuring out what was up. This was a 20th St. driver who has a hard time getting riders! Then he stopped short of K and said, "Here's K Street." So he lied. I should have confronted him for his violation of slug etiquette, but I was already late for work and he made me later. Beware of a grey VW driver who says he's going to "18th and L"!
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