The scenic route...

"Ok, that's 45 another cents, 50, 55..."

The cab driver was starting to look distressed. I smiled brightly at him and shook my purse, searching for more change at the bottom.

"Oh! Here's a quarter - that makes 80 more cents. And I know I have some more change in my pocket. Just a sec."

His mouth closed in a thin line. He began to shift restlessly.

"Hey, how long is this going to take?"

I smiled again. A little more coldly this time.

"I guess after hitting TWO dead end streets and refusing to take the underpass at that traffic circle... and then there was that one detour where you made three lefts in a row... and, oh yeah, the last pass around the block while I tried to tell you to just let me out (which cost me an extra $1.25)... Well, silly me! I somehow got the impression that you have nothing BUT time to waste."

Holding his eyes in a yeah-I-dare-you-to-say-shit-stare, I slowly unzipped every compartment in my wallet, looking for his tip...