How many times have you ridden in a cab? Or on a bus? Or a trolley? Too many to count, right?
How many of those times have you actually talked to your driver?? Have you ever had an actual conversation with one of those people who take you from Point A to Point B? Have you ever asked questions about their life, their family, their dreams? Or have you simply told them where you want to go and how excited you are to get there?
On our last trip to Vegas this past July, I decided that I wanted to meet our drivers. So, that's exactly what I did. And, THAT is how I met Moswegi.
Moswegi picked us up at New York New York. His cab was clean, and he didn't drive like a lunatic. He was dark skinned, timid, and courteous. And he didn't speak unless spoken to. Sooooo.....I talked, and asked, and listened, and this is what I learned.
Moswegi was born in South Africa and grew up as an orphan. At the age of 18, he became a soldier. And a soldier was what he was until "the church" came for him 10 years later. He, and 9 other orphan soldiers, were brought to the US and sent to various cities around the country. Places like New York and Chicago and Vegas - big cities that could provide job opportunities for people like Moswegi. Vegas became Home for Moswegi and he became a cab driver.
Four years into his new life, and Moswegi is still driving. He works 12 hour shifts with no vacation and takes-on extra hours whenever possible. When I asked him what he does for fun, he looked at me like the word "fun" wasn't an English word he knew yet. And then I asked him if he was married..............
His answer: "Oh, no! Not yet. Not enough money."
And this is why:
Moswegi isn't saving for a fancy car, or an ivy league college, or a big wedding. He is saving every penny he earns for a FAMILY. A wonderful wife and lots of children is the focus of his short and long term financial planning. In Moswegi's world, a man does not even start looking for a woman until he is financially set for LIFE. That ideal, alone, is amazing to me. But, how did Moswegi learn this, believe it, and trust it enough to make it his life focus?? This man who spent the first 18 years of his life as an orphan and then the next 10 as an African soldier somehow managed to embrace this wonderful ideal and run with it.
I wish I had a picture of Moswegi to share with you. I wish you could see the pure joy on his face when he talks about his future. It is absolutely breathtaking. His eyes twinkle and the corner of his lips tremble. I can honestly say that I have never seen anything like what I see in this man's face. I have never seen joy and excitement like his.
Someday, Moswegi will have a very lucky wife and 8, 10, maybe even 12 kids who couldn't ask for a better father.
Happy Traks, Moswegi!
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