It’s a Small World After All

This is a quick post to share something I thought was pretty special.

This morning, I took the metro to the other side of town, then took a cab to my morning job site. The taxista (cabbie) made my morning.

He was an older Chilean man, maybe in his late sixties. When I got into the taxi, Willie Nelson’s version of Georgia on my Mind was playing from a CD.

I caught his glance in the rear-view mirror, and he asked me, “¿De qué país viene?” (What country are you from?). I told him the US, and he asked which state and city. I told him I was from Richmond, Virginia. He was excited to hear that, as he had lived in Arlington, Virginia from 1982 to 1985.

He was so happy to recall his time in the US. He lived in Arlington, and worked in DC. He told me about how beautiful he thought Virginia was, with its rivers and greenery, and he said that the people there were even better. “Maravillosos,” (marvelous) he said.

He had also spent some time exploring Richmond, visiting historical sites, especially ones related to the Civil War.

He put on another CD by the band Alabama, which he said was his favorite band. I asked if he had ever seen them play live, and he said, “Sí, en Kingsdominion.” He recalled Kingsdominion: its park and its train, all things that had been long gone by the time I was old enough to go to Kingsdominion, but things I remember my parents telling me about. Kingsdominion speaks to very tender and fond memories of my childhood, so it was really nice for me to hear someone else, someone from another country and another era, talk about it with the same excitement that I always felt about it.

It was really nice to talk to him. He spoke so fondly of Virginia, and of the people in the US. It made me feel not so far from home, and it made me feel like the world really can feel quite small.

Cheers to the cabbie for a nice morning.