In my hour of need, in the months following 9-11, New York City taxi driver Shahnur Talukder stepped up in a big way. Shahnur had only been in the U.S. for one year, hailing from Bangladesh with his wife and child.
When my pre-arranged van pick-up failed to arrive early one Sunday morning as scheduled, I suddenly found myself without a ride to JFK airport, and no one was willing to accept payment by credit card. I had, perhaps unwisely, spent all of my cash the day before, but went to bed with my van reservation made well in advance. I had no idea that NY taxis do not accept a credit card (as they do throughout North Carolina.) Six drivers out of six said, “sorry.”
When I hailed Shahnur’s cab, his first action was to take me to a bank to see if I could get a cash advance on my credit card. I didn’t know the pin number, however, as I had not conducted such a transaction previously.
Slipping Away
The time was slipping away and my margin evaporating for getting to the airport on time. Without prompting, Shahnur decided to drive me to the airport. He trusted me to mail him the fare (which I did the next morning, along with several gifts for his wife and kids).
New York has many heroes and, for me, Shahnur Talukder of is one of them.
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