The Taxi Driver

January, 2018
Dubai

“You are a really good customer Ma’am”, he said to my friend. It was an unexpected comment from a taxi driver and we are both surprised. I asked him why he thought my friend was a good customer. He said, “Ma’am, some customers get very angry if I don’t know the exact location of their destination. They say, ‘what kind of a taxi driver are you? It’s your job to know where this location is.’ Sometimes they give names of stores inside malls and expect us to know exactly where it is. I don’t know the exact place your friend wants to go to, Ma’am, but when I told her that I don’t know, she said ‘it’s ok, we’ll figure it out once we are near there.’ That’s why I said it.”

It struck a chord because I realized yet again that politeness and kindness can affect someone immensely in their everyday lives. We all know how we treat people is something they never tend to forget, and therefore is extremely important, but how often do we try to practice politeness and kindness with every acquaintance of ours? Taxi drivers are not machines, and should not be expected to know all locations. In this instance, it was a taxi driver but it could be anyone at all. 

This reminds me of an instance in Gloucester, UK in 2009 when a taxi driver wouldn’t stop the car because I said “Can you stop right here?”. He said to me “You should say, can you stop right here, please?” I was a bit taken aback, but it was a good lesson. Be polite and show respect. 

What matters is we respect every human being as they are, respect their work and treat them with kindness. People have their baggage they are carrying, which could be unfathomably heavy sometimes. In the midst of all that, they are trying to earn their bread and butter. If we can make their life easier by being polite, perhaps we should do so. 

We all have had some unpleasant experiences, which tend to make us biased towards situations or people and mold our behaviors in similar occasions. However, I want to share this experience to remind everyone that every act of kindness goes a long way, one that you might not be able to imagine in some cases. Some days, it might not mean anything to anyone, but some days, it can bring happiness in people’s lives who are working extremely hard to earn their living.

Let’s take a moment to introspect our behavior towards those who provide us services, and try to be a better customer. 

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