University of Life.

Let us take a minute to think about all th cab rides we had in our lives. I bet none of y'all feel this way before but just think. Some might find "talkative uncles" a nuisance but a recent cabbie that got me home safe from a night of clubbing (failure I might add) said some stuff that really impacted me.

I strongly believe in th phrase "You meet everyone for a reason". Be it good or bad, whoever up there planned for it to be this way. Everyone comes with a lesson you need to learn, and if you grasped that concept early, you'll go far in life.

I didn't bother to asked for a name but I remembered th conversation we had in that short 15 minutes trip back to my place. He was telling me what he had learnt in life so far. How he figured out that if you want to be successful in life, you generally have to treat everyone nice.

That's th first point; Generally treating everyone well.
Just think for a second. If you had a chance to give someone a million dollars, who would you choose? Someone will a pretty face but a black heart or someone that has treated you well from day one?

You might not know what this particular person might do in th future for you because you rubbed he/she th right way in th past. But bare in mind, you don't treat a person nicely just because you expect anything in return. That's th wrong mindset to wake up to each day.

The second point, Not every pretty face has a pretty heart.
I guess this point is self-explanatory. Everyone has encountered this type of people in their lives one time or another. Th person might be pleasant on th eyes but they are wicked and ruthless inside. Scheming ways to gain self-benefit and throwing you under th wheel th minute they see an opportunity.

Third point, Set a goal and work towards it.
When asked what I was currently studying, I told th uncle that I was thinking of pursuing journalism. He encouraged me and said that I have done th first step of setting a goal. Now I just need to not give up and continue at all cost to reach my goal. I realized that he spoke to me in English th whole journey. He spoke with a chinese accent. I don't mean "China-Chinese", just Chinese. To me, that's his little effort in helping me improve in my English as I kinda told him English is my one and only forte.

In conclusion, I guess if you really look at th right places and take advise when you can, you can learn anything from anyone. Alo of friends tell me they hate it when cabbie yap on about their lives and whatnot but I always find it pleasant. They are cooped up in th car for so long and th least you could do is talk to them when they talk to you. Put yourselves in their shoes and won't you want your customers to have a nice conversation with you too? You'll be surprise what they can teach you from their life experiences, they have been walking th earth longer than us young people and we should respect and learn from them.