Would I Be Happy As A Taxi Driver? Would You?

Why do some people look like they actually enjoy going to work each day or are unfazed when their having a bad day?

Here's a story I heard from a friend in Hong Kong.

There were two taxi drivers working in New York City. Both were in their early thirties.

One of the drivers was driving a passenger along New York's stately Park Avenue. As he was driving, a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow passed his taxi and made the red light. As the taxi driver waited for the light to turn green, he hollered into the back of his taxi to his passenger "Who the hell does that Rolls think he is? I'm sure he robbed someone to get that car!"

A few hundred meters down that same Park Avenue, the second taxi driver was parked illegally at a fire hydrant and buying one of New York's famous street hot dogs for a dollar, a much sought after treat in the Big Apple if you can find the peddler.

As the same Rolls drove by, this second driver shouted to the strangers around him, "Look at that Rolls! It's beautiful! I'm going to get one of those for myself someday!" The people around him just shrugged and kept on walking.

What's the difference between the two taxi drivers?

Well, bluntly speaking, one had a negative attitude and one had a positive attitude. It's as simple as that.......a good attitude versus a bad attitude.

Each day I meet all kinds of people. What I look for first in them is their attitude. Are they positive or negative people?

It usually take a few days to identify the negative ones as their protective skins melt away. They are usually the ones who are the first to say, "we can't do that," "that's impossible," "why try?" or "I don't think it will work."

The positive ones are the team players, solution makers and the ones to keep around.

So, to answer the question posed in the title, "would I be happy as a taxi driver?"

My answer is "yes."

But, the real question is, "would you be happy as a taxi driver?"

Editor's Note: Landy is speaking from some experience. During Landy's school days at New York University, he drove a yellow taxi for several months and one entire summer. Landy got to know most of his passengers well enough to have them call him by his first name before leaving the taxi. One airline attendant would actually request the dispatcher to send Landy to pick her up in Manhattan for her trips to Kennedy Airport. She would pay for the extras.