Periphery

[3] c a b d r i v e r

The slam of the door in the morning indicates that the day has just begun. A day full of problems, walking miseries and thoughts kept silent for too long.

It is a sign for him to shut off the pressing voices inside his head and the long, greedy fingers of all his problem trying to grab a hold of him from inside.

Turning his attention to the customer sitting on the backseat, he greets her/him with a welcoming and warm smile on his face while exhaling slowly on the inside.

Another day had begun.

Every day he listens. Sits behind the wheel, half his attention on the road to the customer's destination, and the other half on the endless stream of words escaping the customer's mouth, each word lessening his/her shoulders. Each one splitting up in two's. One part settling itself down on the cab driver's shoulders, which are getting heavier and heavier with each word and every time a customer chooses his cab as the one to take him(her to his/her destination.

Almost all his customers are people who has to travel a long distance. He often wondered if it was a coincidence or not, but never got an answer.

Nevertheless, he had found out there existed a kind of pattern for the drive.

1) Customer gets in, tells him the destination (usually somewhere far away)

2) Small talk after an either long or short period of silence.

3) As if something clicks inside them for some reason. Perhaps because they know, that they will never see this driver again or they realize, that he is willing to listen and offer support or advice.

Then they start, word by word, to pour their hearts out and unloading their heavy burdens on the cab driver's shoulders, with only the power of words alone.

Financial situations, relationship problems, days before a big exam, problems at home/work/family, worries about what the future might bring, and coming, hard decisions. That's usually what it's about.

He would sit and listen, nod or shake his head in the rights places, make tsk-sounds when the person was complaining. Give looks full of understanding when he/she would talk about how unfair it all was. Give encouraging advice.

Then they would thank him for everything and get out, when they had reached their destination. He would smile and wave.

He liked other peoples problems much more than his own ones. He could escape in their problems, trying to analyze them, fix them, forever hiding from his own.

But they always got back at him, found him when he least expected them.