Hello Steemians,
I hope you all are doing great and I am back with the final episode of "The Good Cab, Bad Cab."

Previously The Good Cab, Bad Cab (by inuke) - Part 1
Previously The Good Cab, Bad Cab (by inuke) - Part 2
Previously The Good Cab, Bad Cab (by inuke) - Part 3
Previously The Good Cab, Bad Cab (by inuke) - Part 4

The reply from the driver shocked me. I was opening the application on my mobile for verifying what he said. Oh sh!t!!! How could this happen? How could I opted for the shared ride, when all I wanted is to get to my room?

"I think I accidentally booked shared cab rather than mini" I replied, Almost feeling sorry for going out of character and panicking.

"No worries Ji, we will reach Maddipakkam soon, we have to pick the ride from Adyar and drop them off at Kandanchavdi". He replied in very politely.

"That's additional 8Kms" I let a sigh.

"9.5Kms to be exact from where we are." He responded.

The cab went into a far end of a street to the blinking location in the GPS. He parked the car and made a call. After saying something in Tamil, He turned and said that "We may have to wait for 2-5mins before your co-passenger shows up"

I hated it, He immediately linked an unknown person to me, He was his client too. Why didn't he referred him as the client? And why is this bothering me? But then I calmed myself, I made a small mistake and this is the price that I must pay. "How much time will my co-passenger will take?" I asked.

And the door to my right opened and she slides in next to me. The "he" turned out to be a beautiful she. But, not my type. I smiled at her and she picked up her phone. I took a mental note, Never smile at a stranger in a confined space. So there we are a cabbie driving a beautiful lady and a frustrated fellow. I was now wide awake and was not in the mood to listen to any songs. "You didn't answer my question?" I asked the cabbie.

He smiled and replied, "That depends on the traffic condition and on our luck". As if he was mocking me for booking the wrong service and suffering.

"How do you know such good English?" I was genuinely surprised by his command over English.

"Well." he smiled. "I was working for an IT company, up until last year". This statement caught her attention, As I noticed her taking her eyes off the phone and looking at him. Can't blame her, I met a cabbie this morning who was dying to get into IT industry and here by evening I am sitting with another one who has seen the other side.

"Is the pay that good?" I laughed, to cover up any awkwardness.

"Enough for me and my family. Plus I am not entirely in it for money. I do like driving around." I can be pretty sure he was the first cab that I know who really likes his job. "Money is ok, I am able to make 25K to 35K, depending on how much work I am doing. Better than what I used to make in the previous company."

It not very often that you meet people who are content with their jobs. "Are you sure?" I asked. And surprised me by why on earth was I asking such question.

"Aamma, Sir. I love my job. I can work as much as I want or as Little as I want. I can be late to work or can leave early without anyone permission. I am my own boss." Spoken like a person who has been to the dark places in the IT industry. Asking peoples to come and work on weekends and no compensation. I was kinda jealous of him, he was doing his work while genuinely smiling.

"There are bad days and the worse days, But everyone has those. Sometimes the business will be slow, There is the dependency on weather, Customers giving bad feedback, too many things" the cabbie continued. "But then there are good days too, like when I don't have to worry about planning a leave just so that I can attend the Parent teacher meeting or my baby girls annual school day function" I understood word to word what he meant.

"Ok, Anna. Drop me here" were the only words spoken by the lady in the entire ride. Some co-passenger, huh?.

"Sir, It won't take much time now. we shall reach you home in 15mins." he updated the status.

"Room!!" I correct the driver "I am yet to have a home", I don't know why I said that. He too kept quiet after that. "So tell me more, Did you ever get to drive a celebrity person?" I tried a new topic.

"No sir, Why would a celebrity be booking a cab? But I did drove around some of the anchors in the songs show from Uday channel. They are not nice though" he replied.

"I still cannot believe that you are content with the Job"

"What is there not to like, sir? I get to be my own boss. I am the management and I am the executive. I admit that it may seem very difficult life but it is not. How much you are earning is not that important, what you are doing with your earning is important"

"Hmmm" is all I could utter "What you are saying is true?". And this was coming from a person who is plagued by financial blunders.

"I earn 25K avg, And up to 15K is going on the rents and EMIs. Remaining 3K goes into the baby's saving and remaining 7K is enough to manage the family needs" he explained his happiness.

Now I am really jealous and sad and confused.

Jealous because this man is happier than me, He is able to manage his work and family life better than me. Sad because my earning more than him but still struggling to manage my financial status. And confused because how much attitude matters in one's job. Both the Cabbies has same work profile, both share the same advantages and suffers from the same weakness. But yet one complains, while the other is flourishing.

"Ok, boss, park in front of that building" I guided him towards my building.

"That would be 256 Rupees" he showed the total payable amount.

" Already paid through wallet" I showed the notification on my device.

"Thank you, Sir"

No!!! Thank you. I said without saying it out loud. And I punched the 5 stars to the Good Cab.

I am

So that was the final episode of the good cab, Bad cab series. I hope you liked it. And I really wanted to thank all my steemit buddy for their encouragement, feedback and their time. :-)
I hope to be back with more stories.

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