Dogs
Not all people I drove were so nice. I went to the Airport to meet a couple from a small town near Chicago. I helped them as I always do but the man was miserable and rude. I said nothing. One has to take the rough with the smooth. I took them to their hotel. The doorman, whom I knew well, pulled a face at me indicating that he knew the man. When I got home there was a message waiting for me from the company. The impolite gentleman had complained and wanted another driver. He was a sheriff and wanted everyone to kiss his feet. His complaint was that I was not wearing my chauffeur’s cap. The message explained that he always complained about something. If I had been wearing my cap he would have said my shoes were not shiny enough. They said that they would not accept a booking from him any more.
A dog show was about to take place and I had to go to the owner of a miniature poodle that had already won prizes. I was told to take it for a special grooming and bring it back to the owner. It was a lovely and lively little thing and started to lick me when I carried it to the car. After the grooming I collected it and proceeded back to the owner. As I was driving an urgent message came over my phone. “Go to Johnson's and pick up four passengers and take them to the tower block.” I said, “I can't do that, I've got the show dog in the car.” The reply was, “You’ve no choice. The managing director is waiting and they are already late for the meeting." What could I do? The company with the managing director spent thousands with Johnson's whereas the owner of the dog was a one off customer. I went to Johnsons hoping for the best and picked up the four men. The managing director saw the dog and said, "What's this?" I explained. He sat beside me and I gave the poodle to one of the men in the back. Just before we reached our destination the poodle jumped into the managing director's lap. The roof of the car nearly came off from all the expletives. He shouted that he was allergic to dogs. I was glad to get them all out but it was getting late for the dog show. The radio shrieked, "Where are you?" The owner of the dog was going mad. When I got to his home he was not very polite. Instead of me taking him to the show he got in his own car. I told him I was sorry but I got held up. However, he must have been happier later when the poodle won the prize of best of the miniature dog class.
I like dogs but on another occasion I wasn't very happy with one or its owners. A good friend of my boss told me to take his friend and wife to Paddington station. They got in the back of the car with a mixed breed dog. Arriving at the station they jumped out and dashed off as though they had a train to catch. I drove away to pick up a customer who knew me well. When he opened the back door, he said, “Have you seen this?” When I got out to have a look I was shocked. The whole floor was covered in dog manure. It was lucky for me that I had rubber mats, but even so, the mess was everywhere. I asked my customer if he was in a hurry or could he wait until I cleaned it up. He said that he was in no rush he would wait. It was again lucky for me that I was near my brother-in-law's office. I went in there to get all the stuff to clean the car. It was my unlucky day but it was also my lucky day. The cleaning lady was working in the office, I told her what had happened. This Irish lady reminded me of my mother. She came from Belfast and had eight children and a husband who was fond of a few drinks. She worked her fingers to the bone all day every day and never said an unkind word to anyone. She said, “Sit down I'll make you a nice cup of tea and stay there until I come back.” Half an hour later she said, “You can go back to the car now.” The car was spotless and even smelt of perfume. I offered to pay her but she refused to accept it. But I knew my brother-in-law would compensate her for the extra cleaning. I love the American and Irish songs relating to mothers especially the one relating to my grandson's name Danny. When I told my boss about the dog he just laughed. He said, “The most unusual things happen in cars.” I agreed, when I drove a lady who was incontinent.
North Carolina is famous for its tobacco plantations and I was to drive a man and his wife who owned some. The woman was a dear old lady although very wealthy. She hated the tobacco business because of all the problems it has caused to humanity. She was unable to get around very much so we didn't do much touring. I was able to introduce my wife to her and we often had afternoon teas together. They did like the theatre, especially Shakespeare, and I took them to Stratford-on-Avon and showed them around and they managed to see Romeo and Juliet.
Because of her I was to meet another couple from North Carolina. She had recommended me but if you have tasted the cheese the chalk is horrible. This new couple with their strong southern accents were as racist as you can get. The man was a judge. It wouldn't surprise me if he had belonged to the Ku Klux Klan. I do know from the questions he asked me that any black man coming before his court would have been found guilty even if he was entirely innocent. It was the same for any whites not of his faith. Tragically, while I was driving them they had a phone call from home telling them that the dear little lady and her family had all been killed in a fire in their home.
There was a radio station in New York that broadcast in the mornings. My niece in London was in charge of all the arrangements when they came to England and a couple of times she got me to go with the announcers to various places of interest and events so that I could provide extra information for the listeners back in New York. We were in St Georges Chapel in Windsor Castle to do a broadcast. The chapel seats were always used for the Knights of the Garter. As we sat we found that I was sitting in Lord Montgomery’s seat and the announcer was in Earl Mountbatten's seat. After explaining something about Windsor Castle, he asked me what I thought the two famous men would be discussing if they were sitting where we were. I said that in all probability it would be the latest scores of the test match between England and Australia. My broadcast from Windsor Castle caused a little blood to flow. The owner of a New York travel agency who I knew well was shaving just at that time and he was listening to the program. When he heard my name in the introduction he was so surprised his hand slipped and cut his face. The general in charge of Windsor Castle was not too happy when he saw us broadcasting and he came over and protested that the radio company had no right to do that. The radio manager showed him the documents giving permission and the general was upset because he wasn't told.
On the way to York we stayed at a farm where they had sheep just giving birth to lambs. One of the announcers was a young lady who was very friendly with my niece. She picked up a newborn lamb and was delighted. She talked about the lambing on the radio. When the lady announcer was broadcasting back to New York I went into her room and placed a lamb doll on her bed. She was thrilled and told all the listeners in New York.
The discourtesy shown by some can be upsetting at times. I drove a couple of sisters. The older one, an astute business lady who sold novelty gifts, lived in Baltimore and her sister, Muriel, who was crippled by polio, lived in Pittsburgh. As well as touring the older sister wanted to meet people she was doing business with, which meant driving to four different towns. They had read a lot about England and Scotland and were very keen tourists. We started with a tour of London for the day. They were very anxious to visit the Tower of London and see the Crown Jewels. I parked the car as near as I could get and gathered the wheelchair from the boot of the car and we made our way to the entrance. We got to the gate where a beefeater was on duty. When he saw the wheelchair he said, “Sorry you can't go in with a wheelchair.” I asked him why not and told him that I had been there many times and seen people in wheelchairs. He said, “Yes but only by special arrangement.” Their reason was that wheelchairs got in the way of tourists especially on the footpaths so they preferred those with wheelchairs to come very early or in groups. Muriel was so upset she started to cry. I said, “Don't worry I'll find a way of getting you in.”
I didn't write to the Tower offices because I realised that by the time I got an answer my passengers would have gone back to America. Instead I went to see the manager of NBC. After I had explained and when he realized that it concerned two Americans especially the one in the wheelchair he got his secretary to call the Tower of London. The girl in the Tower office got quite excited at a call from NBC. She thought they wanted to come and arrange a broadcast. She arranged for the three of us to come on certain day and time and for us to meet the curator of the Jewel house. We went there very early, waited until the office opened and went to the same gate as before. The beefeater was very nice this time. He called the Jewel House and told them we were on our way. He showed us a short route to save me several extra yards of pushing the wheelchair. We got to the Jewel House and waited expecting the curator to be out soon to greet us. We waited and waited. Eventually a tall man came out looking around. When he saw the wheelchair he called out, “Are you looking for me?” I said, “I think so. We have an appointment arranged by the NBC." He mumbled something about remembering something about it in such a way as to imply that we were the most undesirable people he wanted to see. We got to the door and he searched every inch of the wheelchair and followed us around the room as we looked at all the objects on show. When we had toured the room I asked if we might see the Crown Jewels. He said, “No, the Crown Jewels are down below and can only be reached via a staircase.” I said, “If she’s allowed to use the wheelchair, I'll carry her down.” But he said, “No. If you fall you will sue us.” I offered to get help but he was adamant and said, in a very rude manner, “You can't go down. Get out I've had enough of you.” The older sister went down on her own. I bought the booklet with all the Crown Jewels in beautiful pictures and gave it to Muriel. I hope I was a little help in a most unpleasant atmosphere. I thanked the curator telling him that the poor lady came 3500 miles to see the Crown Jewels and didn't see them, but she would never forget him.
We continued touring and meeting the business people. Arriving in Edinburgh was a pleasure. It's a beautiful city with wonderful sights. We went to Edinburgh Castle and were given a great welcome. To enter the Castle you have to pass through a narrow entrance with a sentry on duty. As we were going through a sergeant appeared. He said, “Hello, what can I do to help you?” I told him that we would like to see as much as possible but two things were the priorities. First, their father had been in the Scots Guards and had been killed in WWI and they wanted to check on the list of memorial books to find his name. And second they wanted to see the Crown Jewels. There were several stairs up to the chapel as there were all over the Castle. The sergeant couldn't spend any more time with us so he got a solder to help me to climb the stairs carrying the wheelchair. The sisters were happy to see their father’s name in the book. They were also pleased to see the Crown Jewels which have great historical significance but are not much to look at compared with the English Crown Jewels.
The highlight of the visit came in the evening. I managed to get tickets
for the famous Edinburgh Tattoo. As soon as we went through the entrance gate,
we were taken to the special section reserved for the Royal pensioners and
wheelchairs. We were presented with programmes and told that if there was
anything we needed we should just ask. I thought the curator of the Tower of
London Jewels could learn a thing or two about courtesy. The Tattoo was great
as it always is and the ladies had never seen anything like it. We made a few
stops on the way to London and then they made for home. I corresponded with
both of them but mostly with Muriel. She was very lonely until she died.