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Posts Tagged ‘cab’

Day 359 – Pierre C.

Posted in Food & Beverage, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 26, 2010| 2 Comments »

I asked if I could take Pierre's photograph and he said, "Why not, I am a handsome man!"

After attending a luncheon fundraiser for Room to Read that featured journalists Cokie and Steve Roberts, I hailed a cab and headed over to my office at 24th and M Streets.  I asked the cab driver how his day was and he responded, “Wonderful.  Every day is beautiful!”  I peered up at the name listed on the taxi permit fastened to the underside of the sun visor and saw that his name was Pierre.

I leaned over, grabbed my book bag and pulled my small notebook out to take some notes about this jovial character as we traveled the 30 blocks across town.

Originally from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Pierre moved here in 1972.  “I remember it well, it was the year that Mr. Nixon had some trouble,” the 66-year-old said still smiling broadly.  “And the Dolphins won the Superbowl!”  He would know that too because he moved to Miami before moving to DC later in 1975.  He hasn’t been back to Haiti in a while though.  In fact, he isn’t aware of any family still living there.  “If I have some, I don’t know them.” 

“I’ve been driving a cab since 1984 or 85.”  He’s been lucky, he said, that he has never experienced any dangerous situations while driving his cab like Freddy, the recipient from Day 331 who was shot while driving his taxi back in the late eighties. 

I shared with Pierre that part of my motivation for this project was my mother, who passed away four years ago this month.  He told me that he lost his wife two years and eight months ago.  “We had ten children and 20 grandkids.  The oldest is now 46; I had her my last year of high school,” he said turning onto M Street.  “All but one of them are here in DC.  And the 20th grandchild was just born the day before.  “I was coming from the hospital when I picked you up,” Pierre said.  

I love this guy.  He had such an energy and esprit de vivre!  His ten dollars went to buying his lunch for the day.

“I really like what you are doing,” he said as I got out of his cab.  “Probably many people have thought something similar, but the difference is that you took the initiative and did it!” he said with his intoxicating voice.  

I hopped out and snapped this photo of him as he pulled away.

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Day 177 – Ismael

Posted in Gave the money to someone else, Refusals, tagged , , , , , , on June 21, 2010| 6 Comments »

First of all, happy father’s day!

From time to time I look up some of the statistics of the blog.  What would you guess is the number one word searched upon that leads people to the website?  Giving?  $10?  Reed Sandridge?  Nope, the number one word for weeks now is “Mohawk!”  I have no idea why.  I went to Google and typed in Mohawk and the Year of Giving doesn’t come up.  I did mention mohawks on Day 13 when I was sharing that Davie from Day 5 offered to give me a haircut to thank me for helping him out…that was one style that he said he was good at.

Anyway, today’s story is slightly different from most.  I grabbed a cab over to the Courthouse area of Arlington.  I thought I might give the cab driver my $10.  His name was Ismael.  A 54-year-old immigrant from Ethiopia, he has lived in Virginia for the last 21 years.

He tells me that he likes driving a cab because “I get to meet nice people like you.”  Despite his kindness, people are not always nice to him.  “It can be risky and even dangerous.”  Although nothing really bad has happened to Ismael, he says that some people have threatened him and occasionally customers quickly jump out of his cab without paying.  “Ninety percent of the people are good decent people though.”

I asked Ismael if he would accept my $10, but he said that he couldn’t.  I asked him to humor me though and tell me what he would do if he found $10 or somebody randomly gave him $10.  “I would pass it along.  If I don’t earn the money then I don’t think I should keep it,” he said.  

I really wanted to give Ismael my $10 and figured that he couldn’t stop me from giving him the money.  We arrived at my destination and the meter read $10.  I would have normally given him $12, but decided to give him $22 and include my $10.  I thanked him, wished him good luck, and handed over the money and my Year of Giving card.  Then I quickly jumped out of the cab probably like those individuals he had told me about and entered the restaurant where I was meeting some friends for dinner.

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Day 63 – Moe M.

Posted in Food & Beverage, Transportation, tagged , , , , , , on February 17, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I met Moe on Monday evening.  My cousin Cheryl and I hailed a cab in DC to take us over to Rosslyn, VA to meet with my brother, sister-in-law, and friends Conor and Scott.  We were meeting them at Piola, a good pizza joint that I was first introduced to in Buenos Aires in the late 90s.  Later, I ate at Piola in Sao Paulo. 

Piola - Rosslyn, VA

About a year ago, Piola opened up here in DC.  In an age where pizza seems to be getting so processed and tasteless, Piola is a little bit of hope.  Even the pizza they make here is not as good as the pizzas they serve up in Sao Paulo though…then again, Sao Paulo has some of my favorite pizza in the world.

Cheryl and I didn’t talk to Moe much on the drive.  We were busy chatting away.  When we arrived, Moe said he had to ask a question about what happened at the end of Cheryl’s story.  Cheryl explained and we got out of the cab.  Normally I would probably think it was rude for the cab driver to be so nosey as to ask something like that, but, not the way Moe asked.  He had a real genuine interest. 

We paid the fare and got out of the cab, Cheryl noticed she was missing one of her rings and looked all over for it.  The driver got out and checked around the car, under the seats, everywhere.  But it was not to be found.  The 58-year-old former real estate executive and father of two twin boys took our contact info and offered to get in touch with us if he found it.  

I was touched how thoughtful and kind he was and I pulled out my $10.  He took it and said he would use it for gas.  

In all the craziness about the ring, I forgot to get his contact information to invite him to the year end party and maintain contact with him throughout the Year of Giving.  So, Moe, if you check this out, drop me a note!

By the way, Cheryl found the ring in her hotel room the next morning.

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