Photo of Karen Brailsford courtesy of Karen Brailsford
This happened last night.
It's my turn at the taxi stand in front of Penn Station.
Image by Joseph Plotz from Wikipedia licensed for use under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
As we load my luggage the driver asks, "Where are you going?" I quietly mouth my destination with my back turned as I assume he doesn't want to travel to the Bronx on a busy Saturday night. But I am definitely getting into this taxi and he's most definitely taking me, so off we go!
He mutters to himself, complaining about the traffic and theorizing that "something" must have happened in New York that day. "Comic-Con, perhaps?" I ask. Still, it IS New York. Isn't something always happening? Isn't it always congested and busy? And isn't he accustomed to this since he is, um, a taxi driver? Funny.
He complains that he never goes to the Bronx as he has me enter my address into his phone map. He mutters and mumbles some more, noting that the estimated travel time is 30 minutes.
It's stop-and-go traffic until we hit the West Side Highway. Then, we're flowing!
Image of Bronx-Whitestone Bridge by Dave Frieder from Wikipedia available for use by Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported
When we arrive at my destination, he starts up again with the complaints. After all, he's now going to have to make the drive back into Manhattan.
As he retrieves my luggage from the trunk, I declare, "You are so fortunate to have had me in your car!"
Then, when I sign and hand back the receipt, which included a 30 percent tip, I tell him, "You are going to be so blessed because I have been in your car, and your family is going to be so blessed, too. When something really wonderful happens to you, please remember me."
Photo of Flow, a painting by Karen Brailsford, courtesy of Karen Brailsford
"You're a nice lady," he replies, looking straight ahead. "Some people aren't so nice but you're a really nice lady."
And then he drove off.
Karen Brailsford is a writer and spiritual practitioner. You can see more of her artwork at Facebook.com/SpiritKnit and https://instagram.com/spiritknithealing/.
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