Good news travels slowly, bad news travel fast
This is basically the gist of the essay of bugsy. The proverb was included in the Collection of Proverbs by G. Taverner, a fact that shows us that this is true not only in the Philippines but also in other parts of the world.
This post was inspired by blogger-friend algol’s recollection of his taxi ride to Incheon, S. Korea, which he wrote about in his comment to my post here.
I have to admit that I may have focused too much on the “bad” apples here. Mea culpa. I am sorry.
But I have an explanation for that.
First, because the bad ones get more news mileage so we read about them more often than the good ones and second, I guess the bad ones stick to my memory longer.
So for a change, let me tell you about the good guys.
First, because the bad ones get more news mileage so we read about them more often than the good ones and second, I guess the bad ones stick to my memory longer.
So for a change, let me tell you about the good guys.
Remember Nestor Sulpico? About a year ago, a New York City newspaper cited him as the “most honest taxi driver in New York” when Sulpico returned $70,000 worth of black pearls which a passenger had left in his taxi. Sulpico had to go to Connecticut, 43 miles away, to return the jewelry to the passenger.
There are some things that I want to point out about Sulpico. First, Sulpico comes from Iloilo - yehey! Second, he was mugged twice in Bronx where his apartment is. In fact, the second attack took place barely two weeks before he returned the jewelry and this assault resulted in 6 stitches on his forehead. Third, when he was a kid, he often fantasized about becoming a hero. Well, Sulpico may never become a national hero but his honesty has become legend in New York, a place notorious for discourteous and overcharging taxi drivers.
There is another honest taxi driver who recently made news when he returned P150,000 cash which his passengers inadvertently left in his taxi. It turned out that the money was needed for the surgery of one of the passenger’s daughter who has brain turmor. This honest taxi driver hails from - guess where? Iloilo also! His name is Reio Lance. He drives a taxi on weekdays and sells balut on weeknights to augment his income.
I’ve met a lot of good taxi drivers too. Although their own stories may never come out in the newspaper like Nestor and Reio, I like to talk to them and ask them about their experiences, I like to listen to their views about news and life and sometimes, I just let them talk and talk.
About two months ago when I was in Manila, I took a taxi going to Makati from where I live. The traffic jam allowed us to talk about a lot of things. Our conversation started with my niece’s pet, a Rottweiler, which the driver saw when he picked me up. I was surprised that he knew a lot about dogs. He was quite young, maybe in his early 20s and I learned that he just graduated from college but couldn’t find employment right away. He said he didn’t want to waste time so while waiting for responses to his applications, he thought about driving a taxi (he instantly earned my admiration when he said that - bow ako!).
The good thing happened when we were nearing the mall. It started to drizzle and the cars slowed down even some more perhaps because they were unloading their passengers right at the door. I saw a passenger frantically waving to catch the taxi driver’s attention and since we were just a few strides away from where I wanted to get off, I told the driver that I’d get off there so he could pick up the passenger. I paid at this point and the driver put his meter off. It was a pleasant surprise for me when he said, “No, don’t get down here. It’s raining so I’ll drop you near the entrance.”
