Nothing is assessed as it seems

I would like to take a break from our series of executive articles and include some conversation-like anecdotes. Some of these are compiled from my impressions and some from anecdotes that I have personally experienced.

Among the hustle and bustle of modern life, we can't even find time to eat most days. We can say that those who work in some big companies and public institutions that provide lunch due to social conditions can be considered lucky in a way. Many countries where I have been abroad do not have such a habit. People bring sandwich-type snacks in storage containers called “lunch boxes” with our lunch box logic, or eat something fast food in the immediate vicinity between the short meal times provided.

Meet at the pizzeria

On a typical day, a haughty-looking young executive rushes out after another busy business meeting and before he can attend the next meeting, he hurries to the nearest pizzeria. His intention is to quench his hunger with a slice or two of pizza and a drink. Due to its location, it is dressed in a very stylish and expensive tailor, with a glamorous look, and it has an appearance that will turn the heads of those who see it.

As she walks through the door with a certain absent-mindedness in her rush with a ton of work-related questions, she collides with a man who is trying to enter the pizzeria again. The man he collided with is a scruffy, old-fashioned man, as if he were a street man. Although its appearance is shabby, it is not dirty and dirty, in natural conditions it is poor in every way, but has a plain and clean appearance. At the same time, he does not have the appearance of being in a hurry, being calm, at peace with the world and being on his own. His only crime is in this financial center, which is a rich neighborhood, and that is the fate of being found as if he was walking under his feet in this pizzeria he stopped by to feed himself. On top of that, she unintentionally collided with this young man, even though she hadn't planned it. With the collision;

Bre man, look in front of your eyes,
Look at you, do you know how much this dress is worth?
Do you know how much it would cost if I had something cleaned?
............
Excuse me sir, please excuse me,
I can imagine, it must be more expensive than I can imagine,
But it looks very beautiful and suits you very well!
Oh, by the way, are you okay?
Okay okay let me see if I'm okay now, just look ahead,
We'll be careful. I hope it won't happen again!
He says we will pay attention without looking at himself, what days are we left!
What are these people doing in the heart of the city?

The matter seems to have settled down before it branched out any further and the simple man took it a little and stepped aside out of courtesy and the businessman walked in. The businessman first goes to the bathroom to clean himself up or to wash his hands. At this time, our calm uncle goes to the order counter and places his order, stops by a table he sees empty, leaves his bag on the table where he will sit, and then tries to choose a song that will calm the atmosphere by throwing a few coins into the music box in the dining hall.

While our uncle is choosing his song, the businessman goes to the order counter and makes his order;

Three slices of sausage pizza, please.
Sure sir, it costs 3.75,
But five slices are worth 5 dollars, it would be more convenient if you want,
It's okay, get five slices,
Here you go, five dollars.
Thanks. You sit down, we'll bring it when it's ready.
Thanks.

Our businessman looks left and right and goes to the nearest empty table and sits down. He is so busy with his work that he takes out his laptop from his handbag, sets it on the table and examines his mails until his order comes.

Meanwhile, our calm uncle has chosen his song and goes to the table where he left his bag and sits down. What is this? He has to share the same table with the young man he collided with on the way inside, making it sound like it's not a coincidence.

Our uncle is not disturbed by this and calmly waits for his order. Our businessman is so immersed in his computer that he doesn't even notice that he is at the same table with his uncle, until the waitress brings the order and says "Here you go." If the businessman notices the uncle at this moment, he shakes his head as if he were shocked and takes a slice of the pizza. Ooo, what is that, he watches in amazement as uncle reaches out and takes a slice.

Calm uncle has no sorrow, no sorrow. Like a guest of God, he eats his meal hungrily and takes the second slice in his hand and continues. While our businessman gets the second slice; Although he turns from color to color as if he wants to drown the calm uncle in a spoon of water, he does not control himself and say anything. Meanwhile, both of them have taken two slices of pizza each, and our uncle reaches out and takes the last slice before the businessman. At this very moment, the tail of the calf is cut off;

Aren't you ashamed of yourself to eat other people's food?
Can't you just get yourself a job, work and eat your own food?
Our calm uncle, without being irritable,
Saying that you are very hungry, maybe he doesn't care too much,
And half the last slice of pizza 

divides it and hands it to the businessman,
The businessman, almost as if near the explosion;
The waitress comes for the second time and leaves the second five slices of pizza on the table,
Your order is ready, he says, bon appetit.
Businessman, is this my order?
Waitress, yes you said it
So whose order is this?
Haa, uncle gave that order, you gave the same order by chance,
I thought you were together because you were at the same table,
..............
The businessman, who has come to the point of getting furious with his anger, said in a embarrassed way,
Excuse me, did I eat from your order?
Uncle, it's okay, you were very hungry, so I wanted to share,
But you wanted to share even the last slice with me?
Well, what will happen, it was enough for both of us,
Sharing is beautiful, beauties multiply when shared,
Look, it has already increased, it came in your order,
Here's your bon appetit,
The businessman looked shyly at an uncle and then at the laptop,
It's enough now, as if to say that you control my life, close the lid of the laptop with the back of your hand,
Turning to uncle, would you please share this order with me?
Of course with pleasure!
He says for the sake of the blessing of sharing.

As if our businessman had learned the lesson of his life, he called his assistant and told him to postpone the meeting for 1-2 hours and turned to his uncle;

After this nice meal, can I offer you a hot coffee in my office in the opposite building?
Our uncle thanks the businessman and tells him not to cancel his meeting,
'Cause I promised my grandson I'll take him to the playground
If I don't keep my promise to my grandson, he will be disappointed.
But you understand me better than him;
If it's convenient, I can visit you another day or we can meet here again for pizza,
The young man and the calm uncle enthusiastically shake hands and leave, promising each other to meet later.

Oh, by the way, our uncle was not just any street man, he was a writer who lived his life as he wanted and loved to share.

Taxi driver

I am one of those people who had a very colorful student life as I had to both work and go to school to meet my education expenses. I have so many good memories that I can tell. I have encountered many interesting events from real life and I can say that I learned a lot.

During my student life, I worked as a security guard, hotel receptionist, hospital patient registration officer, technician, translator, salesperson, lecturer, assistant, private driver, cashier, hotel night accounting and taxi driver. For some reason, I did not have the opportunity to work in gas station and restaurant type jobs that many students had to do. I guess my main goal is to be in search of the opportunity to study in the works I do out of concern with my desire to continue school. I must have been lucky a little bit because I didn't work in jobs that were physically very tiring. I have come to understand that in most of the work I do, confidence, attention and perseverance are important.

Although it is quite natural to work in such part-time jobs during studentship in the country where I study/work; this was an encouraging aspect that was particularly sought after and prioritized when looking for a primary career job after graduation. As a result, it is more expected that the work you do until your graduation does not have to be related to the field you study, as it is different. Thus, you have the opportunity to get to know other aspects of life first hand. As someone who has experienced this personally, I can say that it is an important factor in looking at business life.

I learned a lot from each of my part-time jobs that I mentioned above and did it with pleasure. One of my last jobs was as a taxi driver. I started this business with the advice and help of a friend. The interesting thing is, unlike my other jobs, I didn't get into this job because of financial need. My start as a taxi driver resulted from a pragmatic situation stemming from a different need.

When I started this job, I was continuing my postgraduate education and I was teaching two part-time courses at the same time. In total, I was teaching 8 hours a week and the longest lesson was 2 hours. For these two hours, it was necessary to park either in the parking lot provided by the university to the professors, a little far away, or if I could find a place, I could only park for 1 hour on the street close to the building where I was teaching. Although the car park is good, it was hard for me to walk that far in the winter months. Because in winter the temperature did not rise above -15 degrees. A 7-8 minute walk from the car park was enough to feel the freezing cold to your bones. There was no problem in summer and spring, on the contrary, it was good to walk through the car park in nice weather. My problem was not being able to endure the winter months.

Our classroom was right on the ground floor and faced the main street through the window. Due to the cold of winter and the noise of traffic in summer, we did not have the chance to open windows. Since the city I live in does not have a very hot climate, there was no air conditioning system in the buildings. Everything was adjusted for the cold of winter. It is a very strange coincidence, years later, in a Middle Eastern country where I worked, I did not stay here because the climate was always hot. 

There was no refrigeration system, everything was arranged according to the air conditioning environment!

One day, while I was giving a written exam to the students I was teaching, my eyes fell out of the window for a while due to the silence of the environment. While watching the oncoming traffic, a traffic warning sign, which I had never noticed until now, caught my attention on the sidewalk in front of our classroom. The traffic sign had the phrase "Commercial Vehicles Only", that is, "for commercial vehicles". I didn't care much at first, just then, when a taxi came and waited for the customer there, lightning started to flash in me. After confirming that, indeed, taxis could freely park there and wait. That's why it took me two weeks to get detailed information from a taxi driver and prepare the necessary official documents.

We had hired a taxi with the support and reference of my friend. That week, I went to school by taxi instead of my own car on the days when I had classes, of course, with the taxi I rented; It's cold but it doesn't touch me because I'm in the classroom where I will park my taxi right in front of the classroom and teach in 20 seconds. Well, everything is fine until here, but the weekly rent and gas of the taxi cost a lot, as it will have a price for every comfort. When I made a small calculation, I realized that my part-time monthly salary is flying around. For this reason, it was a necessity to work at least 3-5 hours a day to pay this expense. Over time, I both got used to the job and made it a point to cover the expenses. Instead of chasing customers like other taxi drivers, I was waiting in line at the taxi stand in front of a five-star hotel in the city center, so it was more beneficial for me to wait instead of chasing customers while consuming less gas, because while I was waiting I could read about my lessons, I would go home when I earned enough to pay my expenses. Some days, when I reserved a day of the weekend due to missing earnings, I was left with extra money.

Taxi driving wasn't that difficult in the state where I worked; It was enough to have a criminal record, to have a driver's license and the necessary short training, the rest was left to your determination and foresight. In any case, either the retired or the students were doing this for additional income. Under the conditions of that day, they had also manually solved the possibilities of finding addresses due to the lack of mobile phone and internet. Above all, the city plan provided the perfect solution. I can easily say: Without today's navigation and internet, finding an address within 5 m of the address was easier than looking at the navigation.

The city is designed according to the parcels as directions, intermediate directions, avenues and streets with numerical naming. The only thing to do is to know the coordinate you are going to and the coordinate you are going to; This is the address itself. Since the city consists of streets and streets that are perpendicular to each other and whose names are indicated by numbers, it is easy to find an address, but understanding some traffic rules makes your job even easier.

Highways are named with numbers. For example 95 and 94 or 23 and 24. Intercity roads, called interstates, are usually named with double digits. Here, if the number is even, the highway is in the east-west direction, if it is odd, the highway is in the north-south direction.

Now you will say how important the concept of extra-urban road can be for a taxi driver. Here is the truth of the matter, because in a big city that is a metropolis, you can save both time and traffic by using highway connection roads. Well, if you say how will this be; This job becomes even easier when one more number is added in front of the highway number indicated with a double digit. Let's say a number will be added to interstate 94, if the number added to the beginning is odd, the highway passes through the city or if it is even, it means bypassing the city traffic. For example, if you say 794 to Interstate 94, the leading digit is 7 because it is odd, it is within the city; I-794 means the highway runs east-west and passes through the city.

Understanding symbols has always been helpful. We all know that some of our disabled citizens are visually impaired. There are 45 million fully and 135 million semi-blind people in the world. About 215 thousand of the 2.5 million disabled people in our country are visually impaired. A visually impaired person usually goes by controlling their way with a long "white" walking stick. Does it make any sense if a part of the cane of some visually impaired people is red? If the cane is “white”, this person is visually impaired, if a part of the cane is red, it means that this person is both visually impaired and hearing impaired.

.....................

Days were chasing days and time was passing quickly in the blink of an eye... the classes I had to take at school had been completed and I was continuing my studies of articles and literature for research only. In the meantime, while I was on the sidelines of the taxi business that I had started, I could do my working hours more flexibly. As long as I don't chase customers, I should read the necessary reading while waiting in line at the bus stop. 

I had arranged my life quite a bit. As such, school, tutoring and taxi driving were going pretty well.

For a while, I left a customer at a location where one of the important hospitals of the city was, and I thought it more appropriate to wait at the hospital stop instead of returning empty-handed. After waiting for a while, it was my turn and a couple was waiting at the door, they were calling a taxi with a hand signal. I drove the car forward towards them and when they approached; The man looked like he was in his 60s and the lady in his 50s. They both looked like pretty decent-looking people. Although we knew that it could be wrong to evaluate by looking at the exterior, the exterior appearance of the customer, the destination and the age scale of the customer could help to be a pre-criteria in terms of safety.

After standing in front of this couple, before I had time to go downstairs and open the door, first the man and then his wife were already in the back seat. Naturally, my first impression was that they might have come for treatment or to visit a patient. The weary and pale face of the man who came across right behind me caught my attention. The lady sitting right behind me and I presume to be her husband, made me feel like I created these mountains, with her eyes that are very ornate for her age, caring for her appearance, and at the same time fluttering. It was as if he had a type that could have a genie without being a genie. I asked where they were going with these feelings.

in courtesy;

Welcome hello. How are you?
The man thanked them and gave the name of the Hotel they were going to,
“I hope you know where he is?” the lady jumped up and asked contemptuously.
Of course, when a person who does not know that hotel said it would be better not to do this job,
The lady muttered to herself; I'm sure you know, but he wanted to imply something to his wife so that I hope you can take us without cheating.
The man is already in a state of mind, without paying much attention to his wife's suggestive rumor,
Let go of these misgivings as soon as possible, but he gave a reproachful answer,
Nooo, I'm just saying that this driver doesn't give me much confidence,
Look, it's not clear whether he is Arab or Iranian, he didn't look like the white American who brought us.

I was shocked by what I heard;

Excuse me, it costs 10-11 dollars to come here by taxi from your destination, while your return may be 11-12 dollars,
This is completely due to the fact that the arrival and departure are from separate directions, I wanted you to know about it,
Lady, did you see I told you, this man says he'll deign to even a dollar,
Man, what if you pay $1500 a day to this hospital because you have to, now the $1 that this poor person will get is going down on you,
Please do not take it, please let it be alms of your head.
No, I'm saying it's not true in principle, rather than money.
Adam, what, so now for $1, let's get off and find another driver you might like for half an hour,
No dear, what's the need, just let it be haram, rude guy,
This situation is like "the grass you don't like comes and ends under your nose," they always find me,
I am filthy men,
Adam, please, enough is enough, believe me, I've had enough of your nagging,
If I heard that you were grateful for our condition, I would say, believe me, maybe there would be no need to come to this hospital.
I'm afraid that so much worldly ambition will bring disaster on us,
What can I say, I'll say be as you know, but I'm shooting with you.

I was almost shocked by what I heard as typical customer psychology. No, no, I did not have any concerns for my own part, because I have never tried to defraud customers and get three or five cents more, and it was not possible for me to think about doing so. In addition, in case of a problem with the price between the customer and the driver, the central station was called by radio and the customer was prevented from being victimized by obtaining an instant fee schedule between the start and arrival. The taxi driver's license would be canceled immediately for the driver who resorted to this under any circumstance.

There is no cause for concern, but the main shocker is that the couple in the back had this conversation in their mother tongue. The dialogue took place in Turkish, which is also my mother tongue. Feeling the lady's prejudice and the man's weariness who had experienced such situations before, it would be great to teach this lady a lesson after a second's brainstorming. But how?

We remained silent for a while and went back to the road. It was quite disturbing that this lady was prejudiced against every stranger she saw. At the end of the day, everyone here, except the Indians, was a stranger in their own way. Everyone came from somewhere and somehow made a living.

Saying everyone is a foreigner, we decided a few years ago to go from the northernmost state I've been to, to Florida, in the southernmost extreme, in search of a new school. My two friends and I wanted to spend our winter vacation in a sunny place, and we were going to stop by some schools on the way. As you can see, it was a two-week trip, both visiting and trading. 

After visiting the major ocean sides for about a week, we wanted to move to the Atlantic Ocean side. The only way to pass by car is by passing through a 5-hour road called “everglades” filled with marshland. There are resting facilities at the start and end points of this road. There were also kiosks, cafes and fast food places to eat in case of need, with the necessity of filling your warehouse fully.

After filling our car's tank and eating something, while we were getting ready to set off on this 5-hour road, a typical 8-cylinder big car approached us and approached the empty pump next to us. I was wondering how much fuel this car would take by slowing our take off a little as if it was absolutely necessary! Although I could not clearly see who the people inside were from the reflection on the windows of the car, I joked that I would joke with the person who opened the door to make the payment at that moment. I was seeing a rather large amount on the gauge of the pump compared to our warehouse. As if it was my duty before the man got out of the car;

I used an expression that means "you loaded the capital on the cat",
The man who opened the door said, looking at my scruffy face and with a hateful expression,
He cursed loudly, "Another ... foreigner", meaning "again ... a foreigner",
I was a little startled, but that was an expression that I didn't deserve,
Involuntarily, as my American friend next to me pulled me away from my arm,
What foreigner are you talking about, the man who hears me say everyone in this country is a foreigner,
When I said wait and got out of the car, I was a little more startled, because it was not very obvious when the man was sitting, but when I got off, a man with the size of a squid appeared,
While walking towards me saying who you call a foreigner with a big curse,
While taking two steps back because of my friend pulling me, unknowingly,
I said go ask the Indians,
With the fear that the tail of the calf will break after this statement,
That aggressive and angry man suddenly left and was replaced by a forty-year-old friend,
He greeted me saying you're my man, as if the ground beneath me shook,
I wouldn't send you without a meal or a drink, he kept saying you're my man,
Although I do not understand the subject very much, this must be climbing from the edge of the cliff to the top of the lofty mountain!
Even though we said that we had eaten our food and said that we had to go, in the end, we were saved by buying us an ice cream cone in the face of his sincere statement that he would not leave us without a treat.

The man turned out to be an Indian living on the reservation in that swampy area. He liked the phrase "Ask the Indians". We got away cheap.

............

As for our taxi story, there was a small dialogue between us;

Excuse me, although I know, I asked what language you speak;

said the lady in Turkish,
Oh, then, are you from Turkey?
Yes, but we've been living in another state for a long time,
Miss, where are you from? when you ask,
I said we're neighbors
When I asked if you were Iranian, I remained silent.
While the lady had a distaste for strangers, she also liked to be social, perhaps because she was too curious, and she probably is.
When asked when did you come here and for what?
I said I am a student and I am doing this job for my part time livelihood.
Are you satisfied with this job?
Well, thank goodness I'm paying my expenses,
The man who always remained silent, interrupted at this time,
Look, listen, this young man says thank you for this, and you feel like I created the mountain of kaf.
Talk, talk, curse the man and chat,

Along the way, we came to the hotel where they were going after the man did not value the woman's one or two reproachful rumors. Just like I said, the meter showed 11 dollars. She and then his wife got off before she sat on the right. The lady handed me $20 for the fee, and while I was waiting to get my change, an unexpected situation occurred;

I said what is this
Your wage said,
You're welcome, will you? You've come this far
For the sake of the neighborhood, this is from me,
It is a rule that I open the meter,
If there is an accident, the first thing the police will look at is whether the meter is on or not.
If the meter is open, the insurance covers your expenses, if it is closed, you will not be covered as it will not see you as a customer,
...........
The lady said get your wages anyway,
No, I would appreciate it if you would please accept this as my "welcome gesture" to you,
At this moment, the man stepped in.
Ahhh ahhh, even if that car had a language, if he told that poor young man what that woman said about him,
Aren't you still ashamed to wait for change? Leave that 20 to the young man, he already deserved it more than enough,
If he knew what you said, would he have made this gesture, that is another matter.
Come on, walk, let the money go, I'll say apologize to the man, but you don't deserve it either,
This must be what they call the "doing world",
I hope this young man you dislike has taught you the lesson of your life but he doesn't even realize it,
The man came up to the window,
Please accept the fee and above, you more than deserve it,
Nice to meet you too 

m
Good luck in your studies,
Thank you very, very much. Take care of yourself.

The man had a heart condition. From another state, they came to the hospital here for a checkup for the surgery he had previously had. They were going to stay for a while due to a few complications. It was a complete coincidence that they came across me on the first day they arrived. I gave them my card and told them that if they needed anything, they could call me without hesitation. We left with good wishes.

I didn't say I was Turkish. Because I didn't want the lady to be embarrassed.

"Nothing is as it seems"
“Don't judge a book by its cover” or “Don't judge a book by its cover”
Regardless, one should not be prejudiced by looking at the outward appearance without understanding the subject.
Compassion is stronger than prejudice (adapted from “Compassion is stronger than treason”).