But, what if there WAS no one there and even worse, while you were there, the security guard had locked up and gone home! Well don’t tell Michael Green (F25) because it happened to him.
Michael is on his first year with DAC and prefers it to working the streets. But he may well change his mind after an incident in mid-December.
It was 9.15 one chilly evening and he answered a call to pick up a credit ride at Kingsway College (Vernon Square by the Royal Scot). He drove through the gates and into the large car park. He spotted a security guard saying goodbye to someone and asked him if he could contact the passenger. He said that there was no one left in the building and walked off. Michael went back into the cab and requested a No Show. It took forever to get confirmation due to the Christmas rush but eventually the scrub came and Michael drove from the building entrance, through the car park to the main gates. They were closed. He got out to open them and was shocked to find them locked!
He drove around assuming that there must be another exit but to no avail. At 9.45, he went back to voice and told the dispatcher that he was locked in, could they phone whoever was in the building to let them know.
The office started to ring around looking for a key holder. Soon they rang the police who also looked for a key holder but again with no luck! They then tried the alarm company again with no joy. It then transpired that the only person with the key was the cleaner. He was due in at 6.00am!!!
The police then showed up and told Michael that they would get some bolt cutters and get him out ‘very soon’. Unfortunately they couldn’t find any!
Then the Fire Brigade were contacted. "No problem" said their spokesmen, "we’ll be there before you can say what a strange sort of day"! Unfortunately, Kingsway College has two buildings and the FB went to the wrong one in Grays Inn Road. They soon rumbled that something was up when they found the car park empty!
They went to the right place and cut off the lock at 01.15 in the morning with a poor, shivering Michael Green wondering how he was going to convince his wife that he had been out all those hours without actually
taking any money.
Michael told Call Sign: "I now understand exactly what Victor Meldrew means when he says I don’t believe it!! I still can’t believe it now…"
