Cab driver wisdom

During several of my cab trips in several cities, I have come across many kinds of cab drivers - talkative, silent, grumpy, cheerful, helpful, rude and some truly inspirational.

The cheerful talkative ones are the best. They give rare insights about the city one is visiting, about the government there, the current affairs, schools, people, places to visit, food to eat and so on. They have an opinion on everything under the Sun and are very willing to share it with anyone who is listening. Just like anyone else. It makes the commute interesting though.

Here are some interesting interactions I have had over the years.

Image Courtesy : Google Images

One cab driver extolled the merits of using a sincere & open "Really?" to keep a conversation going and encouraged me to use it and see the results for myself. I have actually tried it several times and it works!

Another shared his wisdom on how to keep a marriage happy and working well. He said that whatever wisdom he shared was from his own experience.

Another time in a foreign land, on the way to the airport to catch a flight, an Algerian lady cab driver and I had exchanged only a few words due to the language barrier. All we had talked about the Algerian song that was playing on her radio, the singer,  our countries of origin and my flight details. With minutes to spare for my flight, I discovered to my utter dismay that my wallet was missing. When I was frantically searching for it and had almost given up, who should show up but this lady. She had driven all the way back to the airport for over an hour, after dropping off her fare just to hand over my wallet which I had dropped in her cab. She did not accept anything from me except a grateful tearful hug. Wished me a safe flight and left. Yes! Such people do exist. I was really fortunate to meet her.


In another instance, an elderly gentleman of 61yrs who has been doing only night shifts for over 5 years shared his exercise regimen. About how he goes for jogging for not less than 3km under 30mins, at 12noonish everyday without fail, under the blazing hot Sun of a country very close to the equator; How he has to exercise given the nature of his job and how he has no other choice about the timing of his exercise regimen due to his work schedule. For me, it was truly inspirational and I told him so. He was happy and said that most of his friends thought he was mad to jog at 12noon.

Some cab drivers also have shared how commuters cheat & trouble them - commuters quickly getting out at a traffic light close to their destination without paying the cab for the ride,  drunk commuters throwing up all over in the cab and passing out, commuters talking about the cab driver in a derogatory manner in another language thinking that they would not understand.

Yes, it takes all kinds to make up this world!

Care to share some of your experiences?


For A-Z Challenge 2015