NYC Cabbie: Jesus Gets You Through the Night Shift

Do you dread your work day or some task in your life? Maybe the sole purpose of your eight or twelve hour “cross” is simply a moment or two when you can lift someone’s spirits and steer them towards Jesus, who will then steer them towards heaven. This opportunity happened to me twice in one night.

A Little Kindness in Haste

A grey-haired man and his teenage daughter frantically hailed me in front of Grand Central Station on 42^nd Street and asked me to take them to the Hospital for Special Surgery on East 70^th Street. He was trying to make a 6:15 appointment and asked if I could do it. I told him that we probably could and that the only problem was that you can’t make a turn on this street until 6^th Avenue which was five blocks away. He proceeded to politely ask me at each intersection if I couldn’t turn here. I courteously replied each time that you couldn’t and pointed to the “No Turns Until 7:00pm” sign. I joked to myself that it must be a hospital for hearing problems.

We inched along through heavy traffic and finally got off 42^nd Street. I drove as fast as I safely could, gunning the 4.6 liter engine several times to make it through changing stop lights. He continued to complain at every tie up and was on the phone twice telling the hospital that he was delayed in traffic. He was getting on my nerves. H was not helping the situation and I felt like barking at him, but I thought I’m trying to be more Christian and besides this is Lent, a time for change and this is a man on the way to a hospital. What he needs is not a whip but kindness and charity and prayer. So out of the depths somewhere I decided to befriend him, get him off the subject of whining and maybe elevate his thoughts, maybe even get him thinking about the Lord.

“Are you visiting someone in the hospital?” I asked.

“No, I’m taking my daughter to the doctor.” I could tell from his tone of voice that he didn’t want to talk about her condition. He said he was from Connecticut but he worked here at 34^th and 3^rd Avenue. I told him my church was near there. He asked me more about it and I told him about the world renowned Pastor George Rutler at the Church of Saint Michael. “He’s Oxford educated and gives these amazing homilies. He might talk about Aristotle, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and John Paul II in a sermon. He has a vast knowledge of history, philosophy and theology but what I like best is he has these insights into Scripture and theology that change my life.”

The man still seemed interested so I continued, “Like two weeks ago he was talking about the famous passage ”Turn the other cheek’ (Matthew 5:39) and what Jesus meant was that a master would strike a slave with the back of his hand on the left cheek to humiliate him. But we are to say strike me on the right cheek like an equal, because we have dignity and we are equal. Jesus was not a pacifist but spoke of a militancy based in humility.”

“That’s very interesting,” he said emphatically.

I continued, “And the passage, ‘If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic hand him your cloak as well’ (40) means that if you owe someone something and they are entitled to your tunic, take off all your clothes and give it to them. It will humiliate them. I think of Saint Francis when his father told him to give him back his fabric that Francis had been giving to the poor people, he took off all his clothes and gave it to his father. Maybe Francis did this to humiliate him? And the passage,’If someone asks you to go a mile for them, go two for him’ (41) means that the Roman soldiers could order anyone to carry their burdens for them for up to one mile. If you carried it for two miles the soldier would get into trouble.”

“Oh, I see,” he said, as we approached the hospital only four minutes late. I saw doors at both sides of the street but wasn’t sure if that was the hospital. “We’ll get off here and walk,” he said, but then I squinted and read the hospital name further up the street. There were two orange cones in the street and it looked like it was blocked off. Then a yellow Ford Focus cab went around the cones and up a driveway. “Hold on a minute,” I said and followed that cab right to the door.

“Thank you,” he said and added, “Thank you for the words from your Pastor.”

“God bless you,” I said as I shook my head in wonder at the good works the Lord can do in our lives. I sometimes think I am called to go to work each night solely for moments like these. Maybe one day, he will stop by that church, or maybe resort to praying for his daughter instead of complaining. Opportunities like this can happen in all of our daily routines.

Unexpected Gratitude

Eight hours later, I picked up three young women outside a midtown bar who were going to a bar on Great Jones Street in the East Village. They were the worst type of passengers: loud, cursing, using vulgar language, and one kept singing a song in a man’s voice. I turned up the volume on my Catholic Radio station and tried to concentrate on the Kresta in the Afternoon show. As we reached their cherished destination I politely said, “Ladies, here we are.” They didn’t know how to work the credit card machine, and I had a perfect chance to yell at them. But it was Lent and I was trying to be a good Christian. So I smiled, and kindly and patiently explained the procedure.

One lady said, “We apologize for the language.” I was knocked cold. Apparently, she had heard my radio and realized that they were offending me.

I said, “Thank you, that’s very kind of you.” I stared at how young and innocent looking she was. “You know, in my twenty years of cab driving no one has ever said that to me?”

“We’re school teachers,” she replied, “and we never get out.”

I searched for the right thing to say and then  just said, “You know, when I was your age I was exactly the same way, but later on I got religious and started going to church and all that.”

Her companion said, “We go to church.”

I was surprised but just said, “Thank you again and God bless you.”

One of the ladies said, “Drive safely!”

I was going to joke, “How do you expect me to make money if I drive safely?” However, they were hurrying to get in line behind a hundred other people to wait an hour in the twenty-eight degree temperature to get into the bar.

That apology really lifted my heart. Yet, I also thought School teachers? What chance do our children have? These women are adolescents themselves. I hope they don’t teach in Catholic schools.

But maybe someday when they have a really bad hangover, and everything is falling apart, and their pleasures in bad things only bring them sadness, they will remember what I said and know that there is a Way out.

We are just planting seeds. We may never see the fruit of our efforts. As Saint Paul says, “I planted. Apollos watered, but God caused the growth” (I Corinthians 3:6).

There’s usually some instance in our toil and suffering where we can reach out beyond our pain and discomfort to help someone else.

© 2014. Jamey Brown. All rights reserved.