I hope he did anyway! His name is Claudio and from the moment I got in the taxi, he was as charming as could be. (Those Ecuadorian men sure are charmers ya know...) First of all, he said, "Good evening madam and welcome to your taxi." I mean, if all taxi drivers in NYC said that, the general tone of millions of people would be happier every day!
However, he continued by asking about what music I would like to hear. "Anything relaxing - I'm tired," was my quick and pseudo-irritated response. Claudio continued to prod, poke, and insist that I make the selection. I was on my way to getting fully annoyed and just asking him for quiet because I am exhausted - until I suddenly had a moment of clarity and a lack of filter.
"You are seriously the first taxi driver who has ever asked me what kind of music I wanted to hear! Not to mention, you have been so polite and just tried to please me!"
As the words came out of my mouth, I let any negative thoughts or feelings slip away and I embraced the moment for what it was: a hard working man who is in the customer service industry who is simply trying to do as lovely job as possible in the hopes of pleasing customers, and, therefore, making better tips.
We proceeded to chat and find out a little about each other, and because I told him I grew up in New York (I didn't say Albany, it wasn't worth it...) he searched his satellite radio for "New York" and on comes good old Blue Eyes himself.
I couldn't keep the smile from my face.
I somehow brought up the Mega Millions being $266 million (I think he mentioned numbers...) and this was where it got interesting. Apparently Claudio has phenomenal luck when it comes to picking numbers for other people, just not for himself. So, he insisted on selecting winning numbers for me. I told him I had a pen and notebook, but apparently his pen was luckier then mine - so I grabbed that black ball point and started scribing!
What followed was about 5 minutes of logical questioning and manipulating of pseudo-relevant numbers. "What day is today? Ok, 1 is the first number because today is the first."
"Kind of lame," I thought to myself. But, he got better. Seriously.
I came up with a list of 5 numbers and the mega-ball based on his picks. I wrote down his name and ID number and assured him I would call him Tuesday when I won! I promised him I would make sure that both of our American Dreams would come true if I won because of his numbers.
"They will have it all over the news! 'Teacher and taxi driver hit it big!' And there will be Claudio the driver and Susanna the professora on TV from their new apartments in the Trump Towers!'"
As I was getting out of the car (and pointed out he knows where I live, so if he sees me on the news, but I don't call him, he can come find me), I chuckled, "Let's just assume I will be calling you Tuesday night because I'm going to win!"
And yet, it's up to you, New York, NY.
