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前
几天我和一位出租车司机进行了一番有趣的对话。也许这不是什么博客内容的新鲜事，但如果物以稀为贵，那么伦敦出租车司机的故事便非常有价值。他们是一个自我选择的群体，他们事业的成功是让整个城市记住他们的能力，还有一些愤世嫉俗的脾气。
我当时的行程本应该是一个市内的短途，但那里到处都是建筑工地，阻碍了通行，还有那强盗车到处穿行，使行程慢到不行。
当我意识到没有捷径走时，我在手机上开始了常规的工作：查看邮件、领英，然后是
BBC
应用程序。一遍又一遍的重复。
然而，我的司机似乎有兴趣和我聊天。我从检视中确定了基本上我的世界基本上都在正轨上，于是，我把手机放回口袋里并决定和司机聊天。
我们的谈话不是特别有营养。通过不言而喻的一直认同，我们避开了英国退欧的热门话题，并在更安全的水域航行：狗（好），我的口音（持久），自行车道（显然非常非常糟糕）。在
2
个人被困在城市的大马路上时，这种对话的确是个消磨时间的好方法。建立我们共同的和各自的人性，我不只是
'
西装一族
'
，而且他不也只是一个陈规定型的出租车司机。
当我们终于到达目的地并且要付款时，他意外地从仪表上的数字中扣除了一些。一个本让我很苦恼的漫长行程，没想到最后的车费却很理想。一个不错的惊喜。
有时候，当情绪影响我或者我得到了一个很好的服务，我会给更多小费，让他更有信心在城市中穿梭，也许还会让他期待下个行程。但这次，他主动减去了一部分费用，我也只能顺着他了。
我们交换了一下眼神，我看着他的眼睛，微笑着说：“谢谢，你很善良。祝你有个美好的夜晚”。
他笑了笑，说“谢谢，伙计”，我们朝着自己的方向走了。
非常简短，理论上这没什么特别的。然而我还记得它。我知道这短暂的交流让我感觉更好。
有很多方法可以让世界变得更美好，但在我看来，性价比最高，且最容易得到的方式是人与人之间的互动。
在我们这个时代，真正的礼物不是小费，而是处于当下的存在感。
我本可以在车里发发帖子，收集一些赞，但对于人类来说，我认为这样做有点遗憾.那天我本可以在手机上多花点时间，让司机独自驾驶的。德国人称之为
gemeinsam einsam
，翻译过来是“
一起孤独
”。一个实用的短语来描述丑陋的概念。
我觉得这次经验是一个很好的提醒，在当今激烈的商业世界中，我们最需要的就是坐在一起，谈笑和彼此连接。
English Version
The gift of Presence
I
had
a lovely exchange with a taxi driver
the other day. That might not seem like news enough for a blog, but if rarity
drives value, then such a thing in a London cabbie is very valuable indeed.
They are a self-selected bunch, and the filters for job success seem to be set
for the ability to memorise the entire city, and for a certain truculent
cynicism.
My journey should have been a short trip
across town, but between the omnipresent construction sites, protesters
blocking key infrastructure, and pirate van deliveries it became something of a
slow motion odyssey.
Once I clocked that we were going nowhere
fast, I reached reflexively for my phone to do the standard tour around my
digital Bermuda triangle: check emails, then Linkedin and then the BBC app. Repeat.
My driver seemed in the mood for some
conversation however, and I knew from a recent review that basically all was
well in my world, for now, so put my phone back in my pocket and decided to
engage.
Our conversation was unremarkable. By
unspoken agreement we avoided the hot-button of Brexit, and navigated in safer
waters: dogs (good), my accent (persistent), cycle lanes (very, very bad
apparently). The stuff of two humans stuck in traffic in a magnificent city
choking on its own success. It was enough to pass the time, and establish our
common and respective humanity – that I was not just ‘a suit’, and that he was
not just a stereotypical cabbie.
When we finally made it to my destination
and it was time to pay, he unexpectedly deducted something from what was on the
meter, I think for how miserable the traffic had been, and rounded the fare
down to the nearest 10. A nice surprise.
Sometimes, when the mood takes me or I’ve
had good service I’ll offer a larger than normal tip, by way of greasing the
wheels of urban interaction and perhaps cheering the cabbie for his next fare.
But in this case, as the taxi driver asked for less than was on the meter for
some reason I simply gave him what he asked for.
