About Hobbling Through The Geezgeist

As Jacques Barzun has observed,"Old age is like learning a new profession and not one of your own choosing."

Hobbling Through the Geezgeist is a blog for those of us navigating our dotage (and anecdotage, for that matter).

Some readers may not welcome its bouts of occasional candor, so be forewarned, please. I'm just trying to alert Boomers about what lies ahead for them and to reassure those of us who are in the midst of it.

©Nicholas Nash, MMVII-MMXII







Friday, May 4, 2012

Not Your Normal Trip in a London Taxi

Some travelers I know like to prefer to keep their personalities under some sort of mask, almost as though they believe that they don't have to engage the unfamiliar world swirling around them.

Instead, they remain impassive, playing the role of judge and jury without saying a word.  Travel can be anxiety producing, especially if you don't speak the language, don't know the rules, don't understand the cuisine,  much less the map of the public transportation system.

Or…or you can prepare yourself, and by that I mean be interested enough to do a little advance reading, develop a curiosity  about some aspects of the place you're going to visit, and decide to  take advantage of opportunities to engage locals -whether you're lost or would like a recommendation for a nearby restaurant or just sitting next to a stranger on a bus.

Years ago, I used to hide behind a mask, but now that I'm in my anecdotage, that approach no longer seems to be satisfying,  so I initiate conversations, try to help other strangers if asked, and  over time, I've found that nearly every interaction teaches me something…sometimes about the place I'm in and sometimes about me.

In London recently, I had a surprising experience, and I thought one worth sharing.

After the usual hectic preparations, Karen and I flew through the night to London.  Our first task on arriving at Victoria Station was to deliver a load of batons to a customer, after which we wanted to visit an old friend who had been taken to hospital.  Normally we would take the Underground, but we had too much luggage, so we opted for a taxi to the hospital.  Complicating matters, later in the day we had to take a train to Cambridge, about an hour north of London where we had booked accommodation.

Now taking a taxi in London is not inexpensive, but my late mother had a rule to the effect that sometimes it's just smarter to spend the money.  On the way to visit our friend,  I chatted with our round-faced and very cheery driver about when he learned "the knowledge" (the training all so-called black cab drivers must take to be licensed), the impact of the impending Olympic Games on the city of London in general and on his business in particular…just the usual conversation one sometimes is lucky to have with a person navigating the streets of London.

Enroute, it occurred to us that a hospital might not be the place to try to leave six pieces of luggage while we visited our friend, so I asked the driver what it would cost for him to wait half an hour.  A few seconds later,  he told us that because it would take him twenty minutes to get back into town to get another fare, he would be willing to turn off the meter for thirty minutes, let us leave our luggage in the taxi, and pick us up after the visit.  We agreed immediately and the driver and I exchanged and tested cell phone numbers, so we could ring him when we were ready.

We had a very nice visit with our friend John and his wife, and when I rang the driver, he came straightaway, picked us up, and took us to the train station.  We paid for six minutes of waiting time beyond the half-hour we had been "given," and while the final tab was substantial, I paid up, added a generous tip, and silently thanked my mother for her sensible advice many years ago.

One of our London friends later wondered why we would leave our luggage in such a vulnerable situation.  We never thought of it that way….we thought of it as a  very kind act by one human to other humans, not unlike the help we got with our bags at Victoria earlier that day when several young people made our lives a bit easier with their helping hands.

They were paying it forward, and later in the trip we were able to be helpful to others.  Nothing like a trip to remind you that we're all padding in the same canoe, and helping each other is always a good  - and often easy - thing to do.