Anyone who reads this column regularly knows that shortly after moving south to Florida, I found it necessary to find part-time work, not so much so that the extra funds would help pay the bills, but also to occupy time and give myself a sense of worth. As time went by there was a shift in the reason I work – more toward paying bills with the increased cost of living we’ve experienced since moving south.
My first part-time job was driving an airport shuttle for a large company serving the area where we now live. Since being hit by a car nearly three years ago, I had to resign from that job because I couldn’t perform the DOT physical and endurance test required by the company.
It was about two years after the accident that I noticed a cab company in The Villages, and I decided I’d call the company to see if they were hiring – the answer was that I was exactly what they were looking for, and I was hired immediately. To my surprise, I found the job interesting. There are times I don’t enjoy it, but most of the time I like it. One aspect I enjoy about the job is the diversity of people I meet.
I have given rides to people who are millionaires and to people who spend their last dimes to get where they need to go.
Just this past week, I picked up an elderly lady who had several bags of clothing, a couple of bags of grocery items, and a couple of very large packages of toilet paper. She needed a ride to the nursing home where her husband was. We loaded her things and gave her a ride, which was about a half mile, where she requested help unloading.
From the second I picked her up, I regretted having to charge her for the ride. I could tell she had very few, if any, nice things, and she really wanted to be with her husband. I guess I was glad it wasn’t my company because I would have been compelled to charge her nothing. Later in the day, I wished I had taken the money from my pocket to help her out, but I couldn’t start doing that because there would be no reason to work if I just gave my earnings away.
On the flip side of the wealth spectrum, I’ve given rides to people who have millions and owned very large companies. What I’ve found very interesting is that people from both ends of the financial spectrum are generally very nice people, and of the hundreds I’ve met around the area, there has only been one I refused to let into my cab.
I swear I could write a book using the stories I hear while driving.
Have A Good Week!
