Taxi: A New York Story

Getting a taxi during New York’s morning rush hour has the feel of high-stakes gambling.  You’ve got to figure the odds on the time you get out on the street and the street corner you pick to do your hailing, then you’ve got to consider how many other caffeine-charged, neurotic New Yorkers might have made the same calculations.  It’s a hassle and, fortunately for me, one I don’t usually have to face, since most days I work at home in fuzzy slippers.

But yesterday morning I had an 8 am meeting at The Cupcake Café and had to jump into civvies and join the combative hordes smack-dab in the middle of cab-crunch time – that’s when there isn’t an empty taxi in sight and the streets are clogged with people who are sweet as neighbors, but killers as competitive cab-grabbers. 

For the first futile 10 minutes I had the corner to myself, then I was joined by two high-school girls late for class and looking for a ride.  Their parents had brought these kids up right because instead of doing the New York thing – which is to walk half a block uptown, so that you get a cab before it reaches the corner – they asked if I was taxi hunting and said they’d wait until I nabbed one.

As it turned out, we were all going in the same direction so, agreeing to share a ride, we each waved our hands furiously and finally attracted a “town car”, a car that usually only serves private clients, but might, for a negotiated fee, take a passerby.  I opened the door to start my haggling and was so surprised when the driver called out, “Hi Arielle! Hi Johanna!”  He knew my new-found wards.

It wasn’t until the kids jumped out that the driver told me that for many years he’d been the security guard at their school and knew them since they were little.  It also turned out that the only reason I got the ride this morning was because of them – he wanted to do them a favor.

But the story doesn’t end here.  The lovely driver in the spanking clean car (so different from a city cab) took me further downtown, stopped the car, ran around to my side to open my door (a service I’ve never seen performed by a NY cabbie in all my years of living here), helped me out and then wouldn’t take a penny for the ride.  “It’s a gorgeous day – enjoy it,” he said.

What a guy!  He saved the day for me – I was never going to get to that meeting on time without him – and he renewed my faith in the kindness of strangers.  All that and it still wasn’t even 8am!

Comments

[Dorie]

What fabulous comments and stories - thank you for sharing these. Colleen was right, I did smile a lot that day, but I've smiled a lot since. I think when you have an experience like the one I had or the ones some of you have described, it does two good things: it makes you happy and it makes you want to do something for others, so that they can be as happy as you are. You're all right -- it makes the world a better place.

[LHKitchen]

New York City can be such a hard place that I really do love and remember when things like this happen. About ten years ago I was standing in front of the Metropolitan Opera House two days after Christmas, trying to get a ticket for a sold out performance. I was having no luck, as there weren't even scalpers out on that cold night. A woman walked up, asked me if I was looking for a ticket, handed me one and said, walking away, "Merry Christmas." When I came out into the plaza after the opera ended, a group of people had apparently spontaneously gathered around the fountain to sing Christmas carols late at night on a weeknight. Though I'm no singer, it felt so good to sing with others after hearing all of the beautiful singing at the opera. It was a special New York evening, one that I suspect happens more than people believe. When we're happy, it's good to share the joy and share it with others. Though I don't live in New York anymore, I was raised there. It can be easy to forget that New Yorkers, who seem to avoid showing kindness for fear of appearing vulnerable to the perils of big city life, can be as warm and generous as anyone else.

[Tammy]

And my favorite Boston cab story is when my now-husband and I were coming home from a Halloween party many years ago, tipsy and tired. He was dressed as Superman and I as a less buxom version of Wonder Woman.

We hailed a cab, but three other party-goers, in a feat of stealth unmatched by drunk superheroes, jumped in ahead of us. As the cab sped away, they yelled out the window, "Why don't you fly home, Superman."

[Tammy]

Wow. Maybe New York isn't so bad after all!!!

[Estelle]

Dorie, as a former New Yorker and one who miss it so much, I loved hearing this story. By the way, there are many good people in the Big Apple as you have found out. I think that if you believe in people then the good and decent ones show up.
Wishing you many more angelic people.

[Colleen]

Amazing what a little injection of human kindness can do for one (and for many others if the story is shared like this one was). I bet you smiled a lot during yesterday. Gives one renewed hope in this decaying old world of ours. Thanks for the encouraging post Dorie. You sound like such a lovely lady!

[Jenny]

What a wonderful person, and a wonderful story!

[Gemma]

I only been to New York once but we spent about 20 minutes trying to get a cab on a Friday evening, just as we were getting desperate a guy a little further down the block hailed a cab but saw that we had been trying for ages so said we should take it, such a kind gesture.

[Katherine Allred]

Having stood in your shoes, so to speak, on a New York Wednesday morning trying to hail a cab, I am profoundly moved by this story! Maybe this world ain't such a bad place after all.

[Rona]

I JUST LOVE "HAPPY INCIDENTS" LIKE THAT! IT REALLY DOES RESTORE YOUR FAITH IN THE GOODNESS OF PEOPLE. WHAT A GREAT NY STORY. MAKES YOU SMILE, OUI.

[Kelly-Jane]

I've never been to new York, but I can imagine it to be just as you describe. Your angel must have been looking out for you :)