By Edgar Sullivan
As a Roman Catholic grandfather and native of Brooklyn I’d like to share the beautiful encounter that my 2-year old grandson and I had with a Muslim NYC taxi driver.
I recently volunteered to pick up my 2-year old grandson from daycare a few days a week. Since I work on 34th Street in Manhattan, just three subway stops from his daycare center and five stops from the West Village apartment where he lives, the assignment seemed tailor-made for me.
The first day in my new role got off to an excellent start. The subway ride from my office and short walk to the center took less than 20 minutes and upon arrival, my grandson greeted me with a broad smile. However, after sustaining an aching back from carrying him onto a crowded subway and then for two blocks to his apartment, we switched to yellow cabs for this leg of the journey. At least up until an exceptionally, cold mid- February morning our trips were pleasant and uneventful.
Fortunately, that cold morning turned from a near disaster to a pleasant epiphany. I went to my usual spot on Seventh Avenue and futilely waved at the passing cabs. In the five minutes that we were there – me positioned with one foot in the street to be in clear view of passing cabs and my grandson nearby on the sidewalk – a number cabs passed by, but they were all occupied. It seemed that nobody wanted to walk or wait for a bus or subway on that cold day.
While I was starting to contemplate plan B, our unlikely hero emerged. He was an older man wearing a white skull cap and dressed in Middle Eastern attire. In fact, I became perplexed when I saw him looking intently at my grandson. Before I could react he said: “Is the boy with you?” Once I replied yes, he pointed to a parked cab and said: “That’s my cab. I’ll take you and the boy.”
When we were in the cab, the driver told us that every Friday at noon he goes to a nearby mosque to pray but as important as prayer is, he couldn’t leave a little boy in the cold. I reassuringly indicated that we were only going a short distance and that he’d probably still be able to get to the mosque by noon.
His reply – “Helping a young child is more important than praying. I would have taken you to Brooklyn or Queens.” – left me speechless. Then he went on to tell us that he was from Pakistan and how he longed for a return for the peaceful environment that existed when he grew up there in the 1950s and 1960s.
Our 10-minute cab ride was an epiphany for me. A Roman Catholic from Brooklyn witnessed a Muslim from Pakistan practicing the good works and commitment prayer to which he aspires.
Edgar Sullivan holds a Ph.D. in economics and is employed by SECOR Investment Advisors.
