The Success of a Journey Does Not Depend on the Distance
“He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much” – Luke 16:10
Sir, can you take the next cab, please?” Came an innocent plea from the driver of a cab that I was about to board for a trip from Dubai Mall to my hotel. This experience was one of my rare moments where words desert me, even if for a brief while.
It was a Sunday night. Actually, it was just past midnight. I was leaving the Dubai mall after watching a movie and picking up a few items from the supermarket.
It was not the first time I was having such a conversation with a cab driver from the Dubai Mall. Still, the question caught me off guard. Why should I take the cab at the back? Is he being racist? Or did I look like trouble?. These were some of the questions that ran through my mind while it felt like my blood was boiling. For a split second, I felt the emotion of anger. Thankfully, I quickly subdued my emotions, composed my thoughts and retorted with a couple of questions of my own. “What if the next driver asks the same thing?” “Do you expect me to walk to my hotel?” The driver explained that he has been waiting on the queue for about an hour and that the distance to my hotel was very short, making the trip unprofitable for him.
The Dubai mall is probably the busiest malls I have been in from all my travels. They operate a queuing system for the passengers and taxis. Both queues can be very long at peak times. The most hectic time is past midnight after all the shops have closed and the last-minute shoppers and mall staff are leaving. The order with which the marshall organise both human and vehicular traffic is impressive. The arrangement is the application of FIFO (first in, first out)at it best. The union of passenger and cab is by chance and not by chance. The rule is that passenger gets into the first available car and you leave. This arrangement suits the passengers because all the cars are in impeccably neat condition. However, for the drivers, not all the trips will be lucrative. The drivers work on commission, so the longer the journey the more money for them. Also, staying idle means no income. Thus, after a long and unproductive wait, they will prefer a long journey to compensate for their waiting period. Unfortunately, they do not have the luxury to turn down passengers. During my own quick ordeal, I recall one occasion that I witnessed where a marshall was reprimanding a driver because the driver refused to take a passenger. One of the drivers explained that they can be suspended if they refused to honour a trip for whatever reason. With that in my mind, I was now caught in two minds. On one hand, I was thinking to myself, should I make a fuss and get this petulant driver suspended? On the other hand, I felt sorry that the guy is only trying to make an honest living from a hard day’s work. Thankfully, we reached a compromise and the driver decided to proceed. The minimum fare is US$ 3.3 (AED 12), the cost of my trip was US$ 3.6 (AED 13). At the end of the trip, I give the driver a tip to which he was thankful. Here is why I decided to give him that tip.
Despite his disappointment, the driver was cheerful throughout the 15 minutes or so ride. We struck a decent and cordial conversation. We talked about how his day had been before I jumped into his car. He said he had had a good day up to the point of the long wait which led to me ending up in his cab. But he still had some four hours before the end of his shift. He looked back at me with a smile and said, “it is okay sir”; in response to my apology for the short trip. I extended our conversation with a rhetorical question. “What if you get a long distance trip just after dropping me off? You never know, this journey might just be your access to your next big trip.”
T D Jakes explained in one interview that his son was worried if musical engineering degree he was pursuing is not the thing he was meant to do. “Suppose I throw everything at it and it’s really not the thing?” His son inquired. The Bishop’s response blew my mind. Here it goes. Bishop T D Jakes answered his son and said this.
“If it is not the thing, it will be the thing that leads to the thing” — Bishop T D Jakes
Our lives are like a taxi ride with us being the drivers. We pick up and drop off passengers on different trips. Some trips may be long, profitable rides; while some trips will be short ungainful ones. There are those passengers we might wish we never picked up.
Like my cab driver that night who had to pick me up for a short unprofitable trip before he could get to his next passenger, we too must pick up some passengers so we can get to the next “big” one. No matter the distance of the trip, we must learn to be cheerful and give our best effort to it. Our attitude to the current trip will determine the size of the next one we get.
In 1886, John Stith Pemberton was out to discover a medicinal syrup to cure his addiction to painkillers which led to the invention of Coca Cola. The journey to discover morphine-free medication led to the global beverage giant that we have come to know as The Coca-Cola Company.
While I enjoyed living in Johannesburg, South Africa, I did not get much joy and fulfilment from the job. The office politics was tiring, to say the least. I felt I was not given the opportunity to express my potential and to bring value to the organisation. I felt no different from the furniture other than the fact that I could type, talk and move. That notwithstanding, I did my job with no resentment, no complain and no murmuring. With cheerful spirit, I gave my best to the job at hand. I made the best of the one year I spent in that office. And it was that short trip that set the stage for the trip I was hoping for. Today, I can say I am in my dream job because of that short, unprofitable trip to South Africa.
“The way you do anything is the way you will do everything.” — Martha Beck (and others).
You might have a passenger in your cab of life that you wished you never picked up. You might even be negotiating for the passenger to take the next cab. Do not relent because at the end of this undesirable journey, no matter how short, will be the start of the journey of your dreams.
Hang in there and always give your passengers the best experience with an attitude of gratitude.
I watched my dad handle every cab he drove as if they were his own. The Wright Brothers built the first aeroplane from their bicycle shop.
Do not measure the success of your journey by the distance. Put in your best in anything you do because that is the way you will do the thing that will lead to the thing.
