Translated…
That year, I studied in Taipei, one evening on the way home from a school sponsored activity, I stood in line, waiting for the bus, there were two young men kept, whispering to one another, looking, serious, like they are in some sort of a difficult situation, and were discussing the alternatives to resolving it.
not my photo…
Not long thereafter, the bus came, Mr. A alighted and walked toward the back, Mr. B chased him to the windows, and told him, “That, would be the conclusions: you can be soft, but not to the point that you’d lost your own grounds, and, you have to be hard, but not too hard, that it’d, caused you to deadlock with someone!”
Such wise words, the rules of the world, it’d become, a very useful lesson I’d learned, outside of the classroom settings as a student.
The fifty some years following, I’d, followed this motto, and, gained a lot of good experiences because of it. The very first time when the residents of Taipei elected their own mayor, the cabdrivers all got really passionate, trying to get the clients to vote, there were, a lot of the cabs with the triangular colored flags tied on the antenna, stating which party they are for. I rode the cabs to work every single day, and, I would usually, choose the drivers, with the same political standpoint than I, in case I may anger the driver with my comments. On a heated noon, I was dizzy from the heat, a colleague was right by me, waiting with me for the cab, and finally, I saw a cab coming towards me, and I’d, flagged it down, and, when the cab was, parked right in front of me, I’d realized, that the flag on the antenna wasn’t the same as the party I was voting for. I’d asked my coworker what I should do, and she told me, just be quiet on the ride.
not my photo…
The driver had realized my hesitations, and, rolled down his window, said, “thank you, for riding my cab.”, and this time, I was on it for sure, after I’d sat down unsettled, he’d smiled and told me, “Actually, I don’t even know who my wife is voting for.” Turns out, he too, was afraid, of getting into arguments with passengers who are voting a different way too. After I’d let my guards down, we’d had a wonderful conversation, and, as I got to my stop, I was rummaging for the fare, there was, an elderly man who was, standing by the cab, and he too, became, hesitant as he saw the color of the flag on the cab, but looking at how well the driver and I were getting along, he’d felt more comfortable, flagged down the cab, and so, the driver got another round to make.
And this driver, is a GREAT example, of how to measure the values, and, even people can respect one another, while holding true to their own beliefs, wouldn’t this world be that much more beautiful too?
Surely, but that’s only because the cabdriver kept an open mind on politics, and, there are those drivers who are, so set in their minds on which party they are for, and, the moment you’d entered their cabs, they’d started talking about politics with you, and, all you can do, is to just, smile and listen to the man rant on…
Life, the Obstacle Course 