Went to see Rev. Horton Heat tonight. But that isn’t the story here. After the show I left Hammerpants and Hammercapris. They were going to go find food. I was heading home, to stop and grab something from the deli and do some work. Had stuff to do and was already tired, so I knew if I waited I would push it off until tomorrow and so on.

So I leave them and start walking. It was raining, not too hard, and I was on the east side. So I decided that rather than walk all the way across town to grab a train that was running with problems I would grab a cab. Except it was raining and right near shift change, two of the worst times to try and get a cab in NY. But whatever, I stood on a corner a second and a cab stopped right next to me, to let some people out. Score!

As I grabbed the door I noticed a woman standing there looking honestly upset. Not mad or annoyed, but kinda worried/upset. I stopped and looked at her.

“Are you going to get in that cab?” she asked.

“That was the plan,” I told her. I didn’t move though, I just stood there.

“Oh, well, ok, I mean my friend,” and she pointed at another woman, walking slowly toward us with a cane, “I was just hoping to get her home.”

I considered it and nodded. “Take it,” I told her and started to walk away from the cab.

“Are you sure?” I was. She smiled and told me I was a very nice gentleman. I shrugged a bit and walked off. Which is when it started to rain a lot harder. I decided I would walk cross town and if by the time I got to my train no cabs magically appeared then I would just take a train. Understand the train would take far longer and I was tired and hungry and needed to work. Such is life.

I was a few blocks away from the train when I spotted an off-duty cab. Little secret: They don’t have to stop for you, but sometimes, if you are lucky, they will anyway. They’ll stop and ask where you’re going and if you happen to be going close enough to where they’re headed they’ll take you.

So I tried for it and he pulled over. He stopped a few feet in front of me and as I turned a bunch of teenagers leapt off the curb and flung open his door. Ah well, such is life. The cabbie honked and I turned to see him telling them that he had stopped for me, not them. Well that was cool. So I told him where I was headed and he said it was too far uptown for him. So I thanked him, wished him a good night and a safe drive home and walked away.

By then the teenagers had camped out on the corner I was using to try and get a cab from so I decided to just walk the rest of the way to the train and chalk it up to life. And then the honking started. I ignored the first two and then realized that it was a car trying to get someone’s attention. The cabbie waved out of his window for me and I went back and could see him telling me to get in. So I got in the cab and he started driving.

“I didn’t stop for the money,” he told me very seriously, “I stopped because you were respectful of me not wanting to go that far uptown. Even in this rain. You were respectful. And I decided,” he said as we stopped at a light and he turned to grin at me, “that tonight respect gets you a ride home.”

So I thanked him a few times and he nodded as he drove. I noticed his meter was off and told him he might want to turn it on, before we got much further. No one likes to have to argue with a fare, you know?

“I said respect gets you a ride home,” he said over his shoulder, “not that respect makes you pay for the ride.” So we drove uptown, in the black and the rain, and talked about NY, cab drivers, the rain and everything else that you talk about late at night on a drive.

We got to my corner and I shoved some money at him. He protested and I insisted. He took it, thanking me and turned to face me. “Sometimes you do nice things for people because you can. Sometimes you do them just because you want to. I wanted to, you know?” I assured him I did and came home. Got something to eat, did some work and now I type this up and go to bed.

This is why I love my hometown. Right here. This.