Sabina Lucia

Read this today and thought everyone should read it too. Think you’ll like it…

Please read it and spread it far and wide:

LOVE AND THE TAXI DRIVER

Mary caught a taxi with her friend John, in Sydney the other day. When they got out, John said to the driver, “Thank you for the ride. You did a superb job of driving.”
The taxi driver was stunned for a second. ” Are you being smart or something?” he said. “No, Im not putting you on. I admire the way you kept cool in that heavy traffic.” – The driver smiled and said, “Thanks mate,” before driving off.

“What was that all about?” Mary asked. “I’m trying to bring love back to Sydney,” he said. ” I believe it’s the only thing that can save our city.” Mary inquired, ” But how can one man save Sydney?” John answered. “It’s not only one man. I believe I have made that taxi driver’s day. Suppose he has twenty fares. He’s going to be nice to those twenty fares because someone was nice to him. Those fares in turn will be kinder to their employees or shopkeepers or waiters or even their own families. Eventually the goodwill could spread to at least 1,000 people. Now that isnt bad, is it?”

“But your depending on that taxi driver to pass your goodwill to others.” Mary objected. “I’m not depending on it”, John sai, “I’m aware that the system isn’t foolproof. So I might deal with ten different people today, and if out of ten, I make three happy, then eventually I can indirectly influence the attitudes of 3,000 people or more.”

Mary admitted that it sounded good on paper, but wasn’t sure it would work in practice. “Nothing is lost if it doesn’t. It didn’t take any of my time to tell that man he was doing a good job. He neither received a larger tip nor a smaller tip. If it fell on deaf ears, so what? Tomorrow there will be another taxi driver I can try to make happy.” Mary reacted with, “You’re crazy.” John replied, “That shows how cynical you’ve become, I’ve made a study of this phenomenon.”

They were walking passed a building site and passed five workmen eating lunch. John stopped and commented, “That’s a magnificent job you men have done. It must have been difficult and dangerous work.” The workmen eyed him suspiciously. “When will it be finished?” asked John. “June,” a man grunted. John ventured, “Ah, that’s very impressive. You must all be very proud.”

As they walked away, Mary said to John, “I haven’t seen anyone like you since I saw Don Quixote, a character in the play, The Man From La Mancha.” John responded, “When those men digest my words, they will feel better for it. Somehow the city will benefit from their happiness.” Mary protested, “But you can’t do this all alone! You’re just one man.” But John replied, ” The most important thing is not to get discouraged. Making people in the city become kind is not an easy job, but I enlist other people in my campaign.”

“You just winked at a very plain-looking woman,” Mary exclaimed. “Yes, I know,” John replied. “And if she’s a school teacher, her class will be in for a fantastic day!”

“Happiness is like jam…you can’t spread even a little without getting some on yourself.” Vern McLellan

And for some scientific evidence, have a look at Professor Richard Wiseman’s blog post on the science of happiness

Sabina Lucia