My 5-star Cab Ride

I never felt so moved after alighting a cab. I tried to contain myself for I still couldn’t believe what I heard, what I saw…

A few minutes ago, when my turn came to board a cab, I immediately thought of things I could do during the ride to make up for the lost time I spent in the queue. I was composing a text message amidst these thoughts “ang swerte ko naman, ang lamig, ang ganda, ang linis, ang bago, ang ganda ng music”. Manong has good taste, I thought to myself.

So I inquired what station he is listening to. “It’s a cd ma’m”, he said. I was curious why he preferred classical musical. “Hindi ‘classical’ Ma’am. Instrumental songs good for ballroom dancing.” He said this type of music relaxes him. He recounted how one time a passenger got excited with the the songs of the same genre he played during the ride from Cubao to Antipolo. Hinting that the lady would be delighted, he excused himself briefly, ejected the cd from its player and surprised the lady by handing it over.

Charity indeed is a leveling field! That cd was his favorite but he never thought twice to give it away, even to a stranger! How detached are we from our favorite things that we would be willing to part from them in order to make people, let alone strangers, happy? The lady passenger must be affluent and yet how touched she must have been over this self-giving. Self-giving? Bah! That’s too grand an adjective. What is self-giving to most of us? Maybe the 'here-r-my-old-clothes' type. But to give our treasures and enjoy the process at the same time?Now that is quite unheard of and yet it's a whole new refreshing experience!This man reminded of the saying “No one is too rich, that he can’t receive anything. And no one is so poor, that he can give nothing.

And indeed he is poor. He lives near Payatas. He would sort out Music CDs from the garbage and would redeem those that suited his taste. He showed me the cd case of the one he is currently playing. The title is Bachelor from Paris. Fancy a man living near a dumpsite and reveling on French music.

People really throw those stuff? Stuff that makes life so beautiful. For indeed my experience was a 5-star cab ride. Was it the music? I doubt it. It was the quality of the person driving it. Beauty is written in the heart of any man. It does not choose class, gender or race. I remember how Pope B16 insisted that Beauty can save the world and how he insists that one of the marks of greatness is the capacity to be awed.

He shares his love for music with his wife. The radio plays for 24 hours, he says. His children also caught this fever. When I asked how many children he has, he said, “Anim pa lang ma’m”. A taxi driver with 6 children! “Never naman po kaming nagcontraceptive Ma’m”.

For years that I’ve been talking to friends about the perils of RH Bill, I doubt my credibility when I say that to have many children is possible, for I am single myself. My friends are accomplished with good jobs, and yet as early as now, they only envision 2 kids. Mahirap ang buhay, they say. And yet here’s a cab driver whose reason for having many is “Kaya ibinigay ng Diyos sa yo ay dahil may tiwala siya sa iyo!”

How deep is the man’s faith!

His life, his jolly character, his generosity, his faith... I’m sure thye have touched silently many people’s lives. I was reluctant to leave the cab because he seemed to have more stories to tell. Tears were about to fall from my eyes as I handed him the fare. How little is my faith despite the many blessings I have. As I lay down to sleep that night, I thought how lucky I was to queue for almost an hour in order to enjoy a 5-star cab ride.