There is much to be complained about when it comes to traveling by airplane. So many things can go wrong; at least one thing does go wrong. We put up with it because it's so darn fast. Even after your plane is delayed, and your luggage is lost, it's quicker than the other option.
It's not uncommon that travel time to and from the airplane is longer than time on the airplane. My flight to Rome was under 2.5 hours, but I had to go 20 minutes on the tube, and 40 minutes on an express train just to get to the London airport. Then another 90 minutes to get to the gate. Once in Rome, it was much the same to get to my hostel.
What is uncommon is paying more for transit to the airport than a flight. My flight to Rome was $80, all of the buses and trains and metro tickets total to around $110. That just doesn't seem right, does it? Still, under $200 to get to Rome seems like a bargain to me!
Now to the title of the post. My flight was delayed coming back from Rome. I was lucky to be able to catch one of the last trains into London, but by the time I got in it was 1am and the tube was shut. I tried to figure out if there was a night bus. There was, but I would have to wait an hour for it. I did not feel like walking for a half hour in the middle of the night, so I started thinking taxi.
I went to the taxi queue and asked how much it would be to get back to my flat. The man said 12-13 pounds, but I only had 10 on me. I told him just to take me however far 10 is in the right direction and I would walk from there.
We got to the 10 pound mark and I reminded him that that's all I had, but he said not to worry about it (more specifically, he said "no worries" - something you hear a lot here). He took me all the way back for 10 pounds - though he was right, it was around 12-13 pounds total in the end. My gratitude was endless.
I didn't think that kindness was a characteristic exhibited by taxi cab drivers, but I am thrilled to be proven wrong.
Thank you, cab driver!
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4 comments:
aww thats so nice! the bastard at the INDY airport forced us to pay $50! He unlike your cabby was not a nice man!
I think most people in general are very kind.
I miss you
Small kindnesses have a way of coming full circle back to you. Perhaps the cab driver's gesture was a cosmic boomerang coming back to you for a selfless act you performed in your past. The Gods are playing checkers and you were just crowned.
Dad
I miss you too, Mom.
Dad - Sometimes small kindnesses feel like the greatest. Discounted taxi ride definitely fell into this category.
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