photo via everydayhero blog
A little over a month ago, I featured a company called everydayhero for Philanthropy Friday. Their digital platform allows you to track your own giving footprint. (You can read that article HERE.)
Through my conversations with everydayhero, I was asked if I would like to be featured on their blog. Of course I said yes! They sent me some very thoughtful questions on philanthropy and the nonprofit sector, which I answered from my unique perspective. I discovered the post was published last week during my big day with PSI in Washington DC. You can read the questions and my answers on the everydayhero blog.
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Speaking of every heroes, I had a wonderful exchange with a cab driver on my way to Reagan National Airport on Friday morning that I wanted to share. The cab driver was pleasant and easy to talk to and immediately thanked me for being cordial with him. He noted that he sees different faces in his taxi every 10 minutes or so and he never knows what he’s going to get.
Early that morning he had a married couple in his cab rushing to get to the airport. At some point, they started to fight and things got pretty escalated. My friendly cab driver, whose name I never got, did the equivalent of the parental “don’t make me turn this car around” move. He pulled over and told the couple if they didn’t stop yelling and fighting he would take them straight back to the hotel they just left. He did not want to be witness to the negativity in his cab. The couple was angry at first, but they calmed down in order to make their flight. He told me the woman apologized profusely during the rest of their ride.
I’m not sure if my cab driver’s act was of everyday hero status, but he certainly made an impression on me. I wonder if he made that couple think about their actions. Who knows, maybe they even apologized to each other in the airport.
Turns out, my cabbie was only a part-time taxi driver. He was driving to help pay for his daughter’s $80,000 / year medical school bills. His full-time job? A professor of organic chemistry at George Washington University. He’s even writing a book so that his students don’t have to memorize everything he teaches them.
You never know who you will run into in life. My ride to the airport was pretty quick, but there was something about it that made me think that it was meant to be. I can only hope the couple before me felt the same way.
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Don’t forget to hop on over to the everydayhero blog and read my Q&A
What do you think about my cabbie? Would you have pulled your taxi over?
Love that he was doing this to help pay for his daughter’s education. Sometimes people and their stories just amaze. This one totally did and thank you for sharing, Jennifer 😉
Janine Huldie recently posted..SITS Community Lead (An Announcement) – Summer of Social Love Linkup
I love hearing unexpected stories like that. You just never know who you’ll meet!
anotherjennifer recently posted..Philanthropy Friday: Finding Your Muchness
What a great story! It is amazing what you can learn about a person in such a short period of time. I’d be really curious to learn what happened with the couple after they left the cab, and if it will be one of those stories they tell people for years to come. I also really enjoyed reading your interview, I’m so glad they reach out to you!
Bev recently posted..6 ways to save money on things for your children
I also wonder what happened with that couple. Sometimes chance encounters can make a big impact.
anotherjennifer recently posted..Wordless Wednesday: Landing in Boston
That is such a great story. I don’t know that I would have done what he did (too scared) but I love that he did it and it probably helped the couple. I hope it helped them. Maybe they made up and now always have that special story.
And organic chemistry. Sheesh!
Tamara recently posted..The Passing of a Centenarian.
I’m not even sure what organic chemistry is! I probably would want to pull over the cab, but wouldn’t have the guts. I’d like to think the couple was helped in some way.
anotherjennifer recently posted..My Q&A with everdayhero + Perspective from a Cabbie
I love this story! I doubt I would have had the courage to do what he did (I tend to avoid confrontation with strangers, for better or worse), but I really admire that he took the opportunity to make an important point to them. I hope it made an impression on them too!
Katie @ Pick Any Two recently posted..New Study Reveals the Problem with Pinocchio
Seems like a good movie doesn’t it? Maybe they learned some important life lessons through the whole situation. That’s what is playing in my mind anyway.
anotherjennifer recently posted..Philanthropy Friday: My Day with PSI
Wow. A professor at Georgetown University… you’d never expect that in your cab! That is just crazy. Good for him for going to that extent for his daughter. Good for you for being kind. Life teaches us funny lessons, huh?
Alexa recently posted..The Ramblin’ Rose Triathlon {Wordless Wednesday}
The conversation put a smile on my face. He was a really nice guy. I like to think I was meant to be in that cab, though I’m not sure why. Maybe just for the good feeling I got from talking with him.
anotherjennifer recently posted..Wordless Wednesday: Ferris Wheel at Night
I too work with a variety of people (Thank God I don’t see a new face every 10-minutes) but I love the lesson contained within your account. In addition, I love the work ethic and sacrifice demonstrated by his “part time job”.
Eric Simonds recently posted..Children and Finance
I was pretty impressed by him. It was a great way to end my trip.
anotherjennifer recently posted..Our Nicaraguan Breakfast
Oh gosh Jen, this is AMAZING!!!! To think that this man has such an incredible career and sees to it to earn extra income for his daughter to attend medical school by being a cab driver is just so admirable! And I just LOVE that he set those limits on the couple. I love people who don’t tolerate such negativity. He sounds like a man of honor.
It’s amazing to me, the people we never really know… the people that float through our lives in passing waves and if we take a moment to stop and listen, open our hearts and our minds to their perspective and experience- oh how much we could learn!
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Man of honor sounds right to me. I think there’s a reason these people float through our lives. The key is to pay attention to those people and absorb the lessons to be learned.
anotherjennifer recently posted..Philanthropy Friday: Why I’ll Be Traveling to Washington DC Next Week
I love the idea of being fully present with whoever I might meet. I recently left London and am spending time with my family in rural Georgia. This sense of casual connections being more open-hearted is more apparent here in a less crowded, less hustle-and-bustle environment. Thank you for the reminder to open up to listen to other people’s stories whenever I have the chance, no matter where I am.
My pleasure, Alanna. I believe we can learn so much by simply being open and listening.
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