The Taxi Driver

One day, I was taking a taxi home. Through the driver's rearview mirror I could see his face, expressionless and distant. I did not enjoy the awkward silence, so I tried to start a conversation. "The weather has been getting cooler recently, hasn't it?" He gave no reaction, so I decided to keep talking. Suddenly, a speeding car tried to pass us, but in its hurry it scraped the taxi and damaged a taillight. The car raced on by us as if nothing had happened. The taxi driver raced after the runaway car. When I realized we were speeding up, I got a bit worried. To the angry driver I said, "Please, be kind. When you reach him, please speak nicely. Please, don't be mad." Disregarding my comments, he caught up with the other car.

The two men got out of their cars in the middle of the street and talked for a while. When they started to walk back to their cars, it seemed that they had decided to move their cars to the side and continue to talk. As the taxi driver got into his car, the other driver ran into his and drove off. Outraged, the taxi driver stepped on the gas pedal and chased him again. I did not want this event to end horribly, so I advised, "I know you are angry. Please restrain yourself from doing anything you'll regret. I'm a volunteer with the Tzu Chi Foundation. Master Cheng Yen said, 'When you are angry, you are only punishing yourself for someone else's mistake.'"

The angry driver looked at me through the mirror. I knew that I had his attention, and so I continued. "Please talk to him nicely. Let him pay the money and then end this dispute. Don't fight. The person who loses control is the one who always loses the

most."

After chasing around for a while, we caught up with the offender and both men got out again. Observing from my window, I saw the other man hand some money to the taxi driver. When all was done, he got back into the taxi and drove off. I finally got home, but when I handed the money to the driver, he said, "Forgive me for wasting your time. If you hadn't urged me not to fight, I might have been in serious trouble right now. I might have gone to the police and made a big deal about it or maybe one of us would have gotten injured and ended up in the hospital. You said that anger is punishing yourself for another's mistake. Those are thoughtful words. Thank you for your help."

I stood there with my money in my hand as he drove off. I felt happy because I had helped a person by giving some good advice.

For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness. Anger is one letter short of danger. Remember anger ventilated often hurries toward forgiveness; and concealed often hardens into revenge. People who drive into a rage always on the verge of death.