Conversation with a Cabbie

I was on my way to the airport, on a freezing, gloomy early morning. I was in a bit of a rush and still half asleep. Cabbie was already wide awake after taking his strong coffee, which I saw him just finish as I approached the Cab stand.

It was meant to be a quick drive to the airport. Usually about 15-20 minutes. It turned out to be 45 minutes. Yup, everyone wanted to take the airport route on that cold day.

Very much into the traffic, cabbie made convo with me. He was Asian as well. For some reason we ended up talking about each other's background (nothing too personal, just basic stuff), where are you from, how long have you been in Sydney, have you been back home, politics back home, etc. Later on, he mentioned that both him and his wife had to work. He said he had 2 kids. He asked if I had any, I said none. It was expensive to have kids. I got an eye opening comment from him. He said kids are not expensive. Money is nothing. He said, children need parents' time. If you have kids, you should be prepared to give them your time. And not leave the children with grandparents or day care centres. Wow. It's only 6AM and this stranger is talking sense already. I suppose I just didn't expect that talk at that time of the day. From a stranger to a stranger. It made me think. True enough it's not all about the money.

We went on talking about China's One child policy, etc. And finally, I got to the airport. It cost me a huge AUD 45 ! But you know what, I said to myself it was worth it. It's one of those conversations you have with a stranger that do make sense. I wish though that it costed me less!!
(Image from : http://www.yellowcabofsavannah.com/)