Another story from the road
Of all the people that I meet in this project in Toronto, the most intriguing people turn out to be the limo drivers who drive me back to the airport on Thursday afternoons. One might wonder how a person who spends 10+ hours driving on the road in a relatively (seemingly) mindless job can be considered intriguing, but that’s just a snobby or ignorant perspective. I can argue that probably, on the average, those who spend 10+ hours in ‘high-power corporate jobs’ probably are much less bearable conversation partners (let alone respectable and likable) while sharing a half an hour cab ride than your average Joe.
A veteran of Toronto taxi trade of 36 years (April 18 marked his 36 year anniversary, he proudly added), it’s hard to believe that Santos would have driven any faster or shared his story with more animation if he was thirty years younger. Every time he wants to make a point, Santos will turn around (‘shit, look out for the car in front of us, Santos!’) and remark, “LISTEN, I’ve gotta tell you something!” then proceed to state one of his principles. As an elderly man with grand children that are 7 and 5 years old, there’s enough principles to fill a small notebook.
Santos came to Toronto from Portugal (ah, so that’s where the accent comes from) via London 38 years ago, with $12,000 dollars in the bank. How he came to that kind of money (even more back in the days, no doubt) and why he took a job as a waiter in Four Seasons Hotel is beyond me, but he squandered away a good chunk of his money (“don’t even talk about my paychecks – they were out of my hands as soon as they came into my hands!”), living up the life of a waiter. It’s not apparent to the outsiders, but those in the hospitality industry tend to be young and reckless partiers that spend majority of the time outside the job partying, getting drunk, hammered, stoned, screwed, or whatever else vice came easy to young people with money to spend (average tip Santos used to make a night used to be $100 – that’s 36 years ago) and living paycheck to paycheck.
Two years was enough for Santos. He started driving a taxi 36 years ago and never looked back. In the 36 years since then, he somehow managed to get married, buy a house, send both of his daughters through the best schools in Canada, buy each of them a house as wedding gift, and then, still have the money and time to take them on annual family trips abroad. If someone was to tell me this about a limo driver he’s just met on his way to the airport, I’d have told him that I’d believe that cab drivers are helluva liars, but if you’d have spent half an hour with Santos, and felt the pride he has for his children, the passion he has for his principles, love he has for his grandkids, and special bond he’s formed with his regular customers over the years, you’d not doubt my recount of his story.
Santos knows exactly why he’s putting up with crazy hours and the demands of the job – it’s for his children – and it’s around his love for his children (and now, grandchildren) where all of his principles revolve around. He is a particularly harshly strict father – he forbade his eldest daughter (Luisa) from going on a 1 week class trip to Quebec City when she was 16, and even after she locked herself in her room and cried her eyes out for two hours, he didn’t budge – but interesting thing is, he told me that when he asked his daughter if she’d let her own daughter go on such a trip, she said, “no way, not even she cried for TEN hours.” You can tell that being disciplined to your children is NOT a totally bad thing. Another one of Santos’ principle is that he’d never allow his children to get ride from anyone – this meant that he’ll drop them off and pick them up from wherever they needed to go, and for a cab driver, it has a big impact on his business – a sacrifice which he gladly made.
Santos mentioned that he’ll be taking his grandchildren in a tour of Brazil next year (“A beautiful place, I have to tell you. Taking my grandchildren will be one of the most special events in my life.”). For a brief momment, I was lost in the sight, the sound and the smell of what I imagine they would be like in Brazil…
Conversation with Santos made me reflect on my own life (mostly, what lies ahead) and forced me to evaluate how I value certain things has changed over the years – too much corporate kool-aid, perhaps. All the things that I was stressed out about all week (mostly related to job/career/finance/ambition), in light of things, felt petty and immaterial…
A veteran of Toronto taxi trade of 36 years (April 18 marked his 36 year anniversary, he proudly added), it’s hard to believe that Santos would have driven any faster or shared his story with more animation if he was thirty years younger. Every time he wants to make a point, Santos will turn around (‘shit, look out for the car in front of us, Santos!’) and remark, “LISTEN, I’ve gotta tell you something!” then proceed to state one of his principles. As an elderly man with grand children that are 7 and 5 years old, there’s enough principles to fill a small notebook.
Santos came to Toronto from Portugal (ah, so that’s where the accent comes from) via London 38 years ago, with $12,000 dollars in the bank. How he came to that kind of money (even more back in the days, no doubt) and why he took a job as a waiter in Four Seasons Hotel is beyond me, but he squandered away a good chunk of his money (“don’t even talk about my paychecks – they were out of my hands as soon as they came into my hands!”), living up the life of a waiter. It’s not apparent to the outsiders, but those in the hospitality industry tend to be young and reckless partiers that spend majority of the time outside the job partying, getting drunk, hammered, stoned, screwed, or whatever else vice came easy to young people with money to spend (average tip Santos used to make a night used to be $100 – that’s 36 years ago) and living paycheck to paycheck.
Two years was enough for Santos. He started driving a taxi 36 years ago and never looked back. In the 36 years since then, he somehow managed to get married, buy a house, send both of his daughters through the best schools in Canada, buy each of them a house as wedding gift, and then, still have the money and time to take them on annual family trips abroad. If someone was to tell me this about a limo driver he’s just met on his way to the airport, I’d have told him that I’d believe that cab drivers are helluva liars, but if you’d have spent half an hour with Santos, and felt the pride he has for his children, the passion he has for his principles, love he has for his grandkids, and special bond he’s formed with his regular customers over the years, you’d not doubt my recount of his story.
Santos knows exactly why he’s putting up with crazy hours and the demands of the job – it’s for his children – and it’s around his love for his children (and now, grandchildren) where all of his principles revolve around. He is a particularly harshly strict father – he forbade his eldest daughter (Luisa) from going on a 1 week class trip to Quebec City when she was 16, and even after she locked herself in her room and cried her eyes out for two hours, he didn’t budge – but interesting thing is, he told me that when he asked his daughter if she’d let her own daughter go on such a trip, she said, “no way, not even she cried for TEN hours.” You can tell that being disciplined to your children is NOT a totally bad thing. Another one of Santos’ principle is that he’d never allow his children to get ride from anyone – this meant that he’ll drop them off and pick them up from wherever they needed to go, and for a cab driver, it has a big impact on his business – a sacrifice which he gladly made.
Santos mentioned that he’ll be taking his grandchildren in a tour of Brazil next year (“A beautiful place, I have to tell you. Taking my grandchildren will be one of the most special events in my life.”). For a brief momment, I was lost in the sight, the sound and the smell of what I imagine they would be like in Brazil…
Conversation with Santos made me reflect on my own life (mostly, what lies ahead) and forced me to evaluate how I value certain things has changed over the years – too much corporate kool-aid, perhaps. All the things that I was stressed out about all week (mostly related to job/career/finance/ambition), in light of things, felt petty and immaterial…
posted by choongster at 4:39 PM
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