The Stranger Who Changed My Life
It was a sunny morning in the spring of 1966. I was driving a taxi, looking for a customer. While passing New York Hospital, I found a man running down the hospital steps, waving at me.
I stopped. The man reached the taxi and jumped in. “The Airport, please,” he said. As always, I wondered about my passenger. Was this man a talker? After a few moments, he started saying, “How do you like driving a taxi?”
“It’s OK,” I said. “I make a living and meet interesting people sometimes.”
“What do you do?” I asked.
“I am a doctor at New York Hospital.”
Many times during long rides, I’d developed a good relationship with my passengers and received very good advice from them. This time I decided to ask for help.
“Could I ask a favor of you?” He didn’t answer. “I have a son, 15, a good kid. He wants a job this summer. Is it possible that you get one for him?”
He still wasn’t talking, and I was starting to feel foolish. Finally, he said, “Well, my students have a summer research project. Maybe he could join in. Have him send me his school record.”
He left his address and paid me. It was the last time I ever saw him.
Robbie sent off his grades the next morning. And gradually this incident was forgotten. Two weeks later, when I arrived home from work, Robbie handed me a letter. He was informed to call Dr. Plum for an interview.
Robbie got the job. The following summer, Robbie worked at the hospital again, but this time, he was given more responsibility. Then, he worked at the hospital for a third summer and gradually developed a love of medical profession.
Near graduating from college, Robbie applied to and was admitted to New York Medical College. After getting his medical degree, Robbie, the son of a taxi driver, became a doctor at Columbia Medical Center.