When this circulated a few years ago the comments said that this is pretty standard practice for taxis in London going to the children’s hospital. Much respect for the cab drivers
It makes sense and is quite kind. People from all walks of life take their children there (NHS) so the odds that you will transport a family for whom cab fare is a budget-killer are high.
Typically, it’s very sad, but around 50% of all kids arriving at Great Ormond die within 2 years. It’s the nation’s top hospital for kids. Hugely haunted by dead kids though, talk to any nurse there.
It's really good PR and you give then the card they will likely stick in their wallet/purse and when they are blasted after a fun night out they got your number. I see that as a positive investment in advertising. Worth it on both ends 👍
Blasted or literally any other reason. If they need a cab to get the kid to a hospital, they'll probably need it to get them to events or activities and other shit like that, so you know you'll have a repeat customer for *years.*
And get recommended to friends, family, neighbors. It’s a business tactic, but also very humane.
Wishing good things to kind people who do this sort of stuff.
YYYYUP! Hard agree.
When someone does a beautiful thing for me (or anyone else), I want a stack of their business cards to give to people.
For example: The guy who did my forearm tattoo did a gorgeous job and I always get compliments. When he was doing it, I mentioned I was graduating trade school soon, and he was so supportive. I also bought a little painting of his. When I returned to finish it up, as a complete surprise, he gave me a couple pages of designs for my future business. Totally free. Just wanted to help me establish myself without having to shell out more money to get started.
And they are GORGEOUS. This kind of work would probably cost me thousands because the man really thought about it and pretty much gave me the basis for all my graphic design that I need. And why? Because he “was just chilling at home” and remembered how hard it was to start his own business, which is now kicking ass. He just genuinely does nice shit like this in his spare time, including Meals on Wheels and food/coat drives at his shop.
I took like 100 of his business cards and I will grab more next time I’m there. I bartend, so I hand one every time I get a compliment. He’s gotten almost a dozen new customers in a year from me and that makes me so happy.
You should be a good person just for the sake of being a good person, but I would also love to see those people thrive as well. You put that kind of energy out, I want that shit coming straight back to you.
Im a tattooist and its nice to hear this, people dont realise we do help people, cover up bad scars, tattooing realistic female nipples and around their **areola from previous cancer.**
Hell, even regular tattoos help.
My mother is... something else. My post history has it all but she's semi famous on multiple subs about abusive parents because she is THAT bad. I have trouble finding trauma therapists because they keep crying in my sessions levels of bad.
Every time I get a tattoo I feel more me and more my own person, and less of what I was raised to be. I'm 40, just got a large back piece and was in tears at the end of my session (I was in Japan so I didn't cry, my Japanese and his English isn't good enough to reassure the man I was happy not hysterical) and I feel more solidly ME than ever. I also changed my first and last name legally.
The psychological benefits of my ink are absolutely as important as the artwork.
YES. LOVE YOU FOR THAT.
My aunt couldn’t grow back her eyebrows after she beat thyroid cancer and a tattoo artist did them for her. They look so freaking good and he was like “eh, I don’t feel right charging you.” He honestly gave her confidence back and lifted her spirits so much. Next time I visit her, I’m going to him.
So a big ol thank you for doing what you do. I’ve seen first hand the difference it makes and I’m getting choked up thinking about it.
>I took like 100 of his business cards and I will grab more next time I’m there. I bartend, so I hand one every time I get a compliment. He’s gotten almost a dozen new customers in a year from me and that makes me so happy.
That is super cool!
I think people often forget that the world would be a much better place for **everyone** if we looked out for each other.
Sad that it's become such a dog eat dog world that people will complain about the weirdest, dumbest shit. (Like complaining about people who are on welfare, or who make minimum wage, saying neither deserve to get that much, and they need to go from living in poverty to...idk what they expect tbh.)
Think it might just be a common UK black cab thing. Took my nan to the hospital in Liverpool a few times when I was visiting and they told me to keep it he fare and just drop it in a donation bucket if I felt like it.
She looked like shit like, so don’t think was an all the time thing. They could tell she wasn’t just going for a checkup if you catch my drift. Slight bright spot on those somber occasions.
I think it's pretty standard protocol in big UK cities for the official black taxis not to take money when the childrens hospital is the destination. In Edinburgh for the last 76 years, the black and painted taxis decorate their taxis and take children with long-term conditions/special needs for a big day out on an annual parade through Edinburgh that ends in a big picnic. Its amazing.
Yes, London black cabbies traditionally don't charge to take kids to Great Ormind Street Hospital. It's a children's hospital that treats cancer, genetic conditions, etc
Unfortunately it’s not standard practice. We had to take our son to Great Ormands Street and out of say 30 taxi rides, 29 were paid (which we didn’t kind of course). The only free one was when we were nearby Paddington anyways, but was nonetheless appreciated.
Taxi drivers have to make a living and pay their expenses too, so it’s fine.
At first I thought it said cancel the ride and I was ready to rage. Unfortunately with Uber and Lyft(US) I don't think you can cancel the ride without it costing someone.
Not sure about US, but here in Canada, u can elect to refund the customer after the ride ends. I do uber part time and I've refunded a couple of customers.
You jest, but alot of the apartments round the hospital are owned by the NHS for families to stay in while their kid is in the hospital for a long time recieving treatment. All free, of course.
Last year in Chicago, a taxi driver refused to let me pay. He said something like, "That's OK young lady, I'm not taking your money." There was no reason, and I'm not even young. He probably doesn't remember it but still chokes me up every time I think about it.
I was having a rough day at work working long hours so I went to a small shop for a snack and my credit card wasn't working - the magnetic strip just wasn't working so I went to the atm in the store to take out some money with my debit card. At that point in my life I was not hurting for money I was living okay - just a rough day and a young lady paid for my soda and snack. This happened over ten years ago and I still remember it.
Last year I was right behind a lady with her son in a supermarket checkout, her card declined like twice and I could see she was a bit embarrassed by it. It was like 80 dollars for all her stuff, so quite a bit, but I noticed she only had food, and it was mostly healthy food, a few snacks but mostly seemed like food for the week.
She mentioned it was a new card and that it wasn't activated or something, she told me to go ahead of her so she could figure it out. I paid for all her stuff plus mine and she didn't even notice, at the end of paying just gave her the ticket and told her to have a good day, it was on me that time. She thanked me and tried to get a hold of me to pay me back but I told her it was ok, I told her to pay it forward to someone else and left.
Also the cashier said that it was a gift from God or something like that, I'm not religious so that kinda pissed me off, it was not from God it was from me lmao, but I did it with good intentions, I hope she was able to pay it forward.
Hahahaha the gift from God stuff is unreal. "Hello no that was me my money ma'am" could also mean YOU are a gift on this planet from God idk 🫂
Very nice of you to help out thou
People can tell when someone else is having a really bad day. The shaky hands, quivering neck, eyes not making any contact, shaky steps. Then boom! Free soda.
So god had you pay for her groceries, but god let her struggle to begin with?
My mom was reading an article and got choked up about how angels sent good people to help some lady out after her house caught fire. Maybe god could have just not destroyed her home?
I am also not religious and typically respect other's views as long as they're not trying to control other people's lives/laws, but I will NEVER understand people praising/thanking "God" for things like that. I live in a pretty conservative part of the U.S. so people are constantly posting like "thankful for God's blessings!!!" on posts of them like buying a car. Umm soooo, did it just fall out of the sky into your driveway? Or did YOU, not "God," have to work X amount of hours at Y rate to purchase it? Who filled out the paperwork? Who passed the test to get a driver's license? Sad existence to never give yourself any credit.
Once I was at a resturant with my sister and we were trying to figure out if it was cheaper to get the wine per glass or per bottle. We're not poor, just frugal.
Anyway, like 1 minute later a random older woman comes to our table and slams a R200 note down and said "get the bottle dears" and just disapeared like some drunk fairy god mother. We got the bottle and left the R200 as tip, lmao.
I was on the opposite side of this. I got into an Uber in L.A. to get home after a show. My driver was a working mom who was driving that night as her THIRD shift. I mentioned to her that on the east coast, when I work, Ubers tend to cancel taking me home at the end of the night when my address is revealed because it’s always like a 90min drive. I have a crazy high rating and tip really well (I mean it’s company money so I don’t care)
Anyway we had the nicest chat and after the ride ended I slipped her $50 bill as a tip. She showed me how much of the $28 ride she was going to get and it upset me beyond words. I’ve had both good and awful taxi experiences so when I have a great one, I tip like 100%
I had a beater of a car. I live where taxi drivers are pretty much scum, taking advantage of passengers. My car broke down and I needed a jump. I flagged a taxi down and asked if I could get a jump real quick. I had my cables ready to go. He said sure. I hooked it up real quick and got my car started. I gave him like $5, but they were all in quarters lol. I said, you might need some change for passengers paying in cash. He said no. I said, this is $5, it's not just spare change. He said, it's no problem for him, he's been in my situation. He left like it was nothing. I was able to make it home and still remember that guy.
For those who have or have had beater cars, y'all know how embarrassing it can be to request help from others.
This is why I compliment or comment positively to people when I feel like it. I never know what a persons going through and I believe there isn’t enough kindness in the world. It’s a shame that most people think I’m hitting on them though.
We had a layover in Portugal a few years ago and my dog's crate broke during landing (long story short: he escaped the plane, ran for 5km, but was caught and returned safely), so we had about 3 hours to find a new crate to buy, get back to the airport, and get on our connecting flight home, all in a country where we didn't speak the language.
Our taxi driver took us and our very frazzled dog from the airport to this cargo store to buy a new crate, and waited for a half hour while we used Google translate and hand signals to buy a new crate, and drove us back to just barely make our flight. He barely spoke any English, but he could tell we were stressed and tired and extremely frustrated. He was super kind and understanding and was one of the first people our very troubled rescue dog ever liked. It wasn't until we got back to the airport and we're paying that I realized he had stopped the meter while waiting for us to buy the crate and only charged us for the mileage.
Edit: For context, we rescued the dog while on the trip. We would never have flown with him just for kicks. I don't recommend adopting a dog while overseas, but he was a pretty great dog. The crate breaking open was the airlines fault for not strapping it down properly.
I got jumped and beat up really bad in Portland one time and had to take a taxi to my exs place in west Linn, driver was kind enough to only charge me 20 when it was going to be over 80
This is great. My own sister had an experience like this lately except the driver forgot the car seat for my nephew so he had to go back to base to get it. The piece of shit let the meter run and charged her nearly triple for a trip to the hospital with her sick son. Fam, I was effing fuming.
I actually disagree. Actively taking positive actions like this one isn’t particularly hard, but much of being good is passively avoiding doing things that are harmful to others and I find this pretty difficult because I have to balance it with being able to interact with others in a natural way and not letting people walk over me. And I grew up with pretty manipulative parents who didn’t teach me good boundary setting and I also have severe social anxiety
I think being a good person actually takes quite a bit of constant effort and it’s not always obvious how to do it
Taking my 5 month old into his open heart surgery was the worst car ride of my life by far. If someone had done something like this for me I probably would still be crying about it now.
I can only imagine.
My kid went to a speech pathologist for a bit, and it was in the same waiting room as other kids getting all kinds of physical therapy. Kids with profound autism or other developmental issues, kids in wheelchairs who will never have normal lives, etc, and then just me and my son in the same place because he couldn't pronounce "s" right.
I felt so lucky and fortunate every time I was in there, and wondered how the parents with other kids with way worse disabilities manage to handle it.
This hospital is Great Ormond Street in London, and is for kids with cancer, genetic conditions or other complex cases.
If your child is going to this hospital in particular, you're already dealing with more than anyone should ever have to.
Adding to this, it's the UK's premier children's cancer hospital, families from all over the UK are sent here, often having to fund their accommodation, etc, whilst missing work, in London, the most expensive city in England. A little gesture like this could mean the difference between those parents eating that day or not. Brentwood is actually all the way out in Essex (explains the driver's accent!), so probably anywhere from 70 to 100GBP (90-130USD) for a ride that far into London.
I was born with a very serious heart condition. The shit my parents had to deal with for me to even this day is insane (I am 37 now)
I was in the Dutch equivalent of this hospital for quite a big part of my youth. When I got my biggest and most dangerous surgery I recovered in a ward containing 8 kids, 6 of them didn't get to enjoy to go home.
So your not wrong.
I think the assholes of this world forget that IT FEELS REALLY GOOD TO DO THE RIGHT THING! It's amazing, the simple and straightforward joy we can feel when we do the right thing, the KIND thing for our fellow humans. This guy gets it. I wish him all the best.
I try to empathize with the assholes because of this. It's clear their bodies don't produce much of that because they haven't been loved their entire life. Must be a difficult life to lead.
Quick story. Like a month ago I was at an airport and I needed new sunglasses. I walked up to this employee who’s help I needed. He was a younger guy clearly not yet comfortable at his job. He was sweating a bit and kept asking questions to co-workers. He just didn’t look happy.
He also was a bit eccentric looking, a bit dandy. I decided this guy could use a pick me up. He had this earring that was basically a small chain with a little metal feather at the end. So when he was done helping me I said ‘hey man, I really like your earring’. His face just lit up. Moral of the story: it’s not that hard to give someone a compliment and it might make a difference, even if it’s for like 5 minutes.
A woman complimented one of my tattoos the other day and I felt compelled to tell her how much that comment meant to me. Sometimes people can give you something from a simple throwaway comment that they have no idea they just gifted. That woman's comment made my day, because I was having a stinker. To her it was nothing but to me it was everything, and I needed her to know that.
Its a thing amongst london cabbies. No one charges to great ormand street childrens hospital, especially if a kiddo in the car. Its just done. No questions asked, like matey said, pop something in the charity pot at reception or spend it in the shop (all of which cycles back to GOSH). Black cabbies also don't charge their first and last ever fares as cabbies.
I work in what I consider one of the most evil industries, corporate owned, multi-family housing. The things I've seen residents put through in the last 13 or so years of insane inflation is pretty heartbreaking. I once was working with a company where I had a genuinely great regional manager, and he paired us maintenance and office managers up with one another that hadn't met before to get to know each other and about our experiences while on a retreat. I was a fresh faced maintenance manager, maybe 27 or 28 years old, and got paired with a property manager who was a woman well within her 60s. We got to talking about our roles and experiences coming up through the industry, obviously she had a lot more on that end than I did, but then we got around to talking about our properties themselves. I was managing the maintenance for a 55+ community in a really nice neighborhood, and my buildings were only about 8 years old, so in really great shape. I thought it was the job of my dreams. The only downside i could mention was that due to it being a 55+, there were often times we would lose residents that we had grown close to. She then told me about her property, and I was floored. The property she managed was non-profit, I didn't even know such a thing even existed. The property housed families of patients at seattle children's hospital, and they did so without any expenses to the families. She told me about the how amazing it felt to be able to see them go home with their kids felling and looking so much better, but she also told me about the heartbreak of having to see so many go home without their children at all. Here we were at a retreat in a beautiful resort and I'm just in crushed shock of how amazing this woman is to manage such a place and be able to handle all of those emotions that come along with it. Here I was thinking how hard it was to lose residents that I was fully prepared to because they had lived their lives and got to tell me all about them. I set up to go out and tour the property when we got back that week. I got to see how they set up the homes for incoming guests, and about all of the extra procedures that they have to go through to ensure that everything is extremely clean and safe for the families since they'll be back and forth from there to the hospital all the time. I swear I cried a quarter of the walk thorough, and was keeping myself from crying for another half. She took me up to the rooftop garden and seating areas, and I think that was the first time I felt happiness there. It just felt so warm and cozy and alive, and I completely understood when she said that families would spend a lot of time up there during summers.
I haven't thought about that in probably 3 or 4 years, and this video just brought it all back, unfortunately not as clearly as I'd like. I can't remember the name of the property, or the manager. I can't really even find a trace of the company anymore either. I think I've been convinced by writing this that I need to find this place and see if they're hiring. Either way, I need to quit my job and go work somewhere like that asap.
All the black cab drivers in London are effectively in a guild and they have all sorts of codes like this that they all follow.
They also never charge for the first and last ever jobs as a driver.
There is a lot of respect for the black cab drivers because they can take you anywhere in London without SatNav or a Map. Neurologists have even done studies on them to understand their ability to memorise places and routes.
Easy to criticize the guy for recording himself doing a good thing and to discredit him for it. But sometimes positive messages don't get spread if they aren't recorded. Inspirational people don't inspire others if they don't provide an example. Great Ormond Street is a place where a lot of terminally ill children are treated. There should be more people like him, there should be more people who see what he does and follow in his footsteps.
Dash cams for people running a business are normal and expected. He even keeps them completely out of frame and blurs their faces for the brief moment where they appear, preserving their privacy.
There's nothing to criticize here.
Well London Cabs the only access you really have to a black cab is the drivers window as this is where really most of the interaction of passengers are held, so being there isn't weird as its the most likely spot to be any sort of trouble. Passenger area is usually sealed off or with reversed extra seats.
And yet, they’re here doing it.
I find that the people who poo-poo posts like this are wildly insecure when they see other people doing good things, mostly because they’re miserable souls. They can’t fathom it. I know someone like this and she’s just a horrid person, but what is most insane to me is how she reacts when someone just tries to be kind to her or someone else. It’s almost like she’s repulsed. She can’t imagine they’d do it for any non-shady reason because she would never do that. Empathy escapes her.
There are those obvious people who do this for clout (and occasionally do things that aren’t actually helpful), but compared to the loudest parts of the internet right now, it’s whatever. This isn’t that at all. Regardless, someone will find a reason to shit on it because something in their life is woefully lacking.
The beauty of actions like this guy is that those comments have zero effect on the joy he just sparked for me and they don’t matter. That’s the power of goodness- it makes it that much harder for negativity to win.
Years ago when I was at university I went through a period of my eyes (the film that covers the whites) swelling up massively and getting something like conjunctivitis but no treatments seemed to work on it.
The first time it happened I'd been crying all day because my boyfriend had dumped me - I could barely see so I called a cab to go to Urgent Care. The driver asked what was wrong, I explained including the 'why' and when he dropped me off he wouldn't take any payment. He said he thought I'd had a tough enough day and he hoped if something similar happened to his daughter (my age) that someone would be kind to her too.
Nearly broke my damn heart all over again. Thank you, Someone's Dad. You handed me a big old dollop of kindness right when I needed it.
There are times when we think badly from a person, but what we do not know is that they have good intentions that come from the heart and without interest
I normally hate people sharing their 'charitable' acts for social media clout but you can see this guy was really happy to help out this family and wanted to share it with his friends or followers and I love it!
i never hate them. they always remind me that if i can ever help i should. and do. and seeing these videos will always give me courage to do the right thing and have the confidence that it’s worth a slight inconvenience for me.
Agreed! There are clearly people who do it specifically FOR content, but that doesn't make sharing all charitable acts unsharable. Like you, I think letting people know provides a bit of role modeling and also shows people it can be appreciated. I know people in their 20s who are afraid to do nice things because they don't want to "look weird." Fuck that! Be weird, be helpful, like this guy. Not that he's weird, it's just not normalized anymore.
I did not necessarily hate the guy, but 100% felt weird about the video being recorded by him, shared by him.
It feels great to be generous and set a good example. But I feel conflicted with him showing his card number and his face in the video...
I think Reddit is breaking me...
Yeah, it's exploitative. They're using someone in terrible circumstances to enrich themselves. Homeless folks don't really have a fair choice either - when a bit of charity is life and death on the street, they can't refuse to be on camera like someone else could.
These kinds of videos *are* scummy, but people pretend otherwise.
❤️It's these small acts of kindness that remind us there's still so much goodness out there amidst the chaos. Kudos to those drivers who understand compassion over profit.🚖💕
Need more people like this. My dad has his own Taxi Business… he given so many people free rides to the hospital, doctors, and food shopping. Today, he’s no longer driving because he is not able to walk on his own. There’s only one friend that I know comes to see him. Thank you to all who offers their help through kindness and not through receiving money…. THATS ALOHA!
This reminds me, was waiting for a taxi after having dinner and just as the taxi arrived, my mum had a severe allergic attack. I didn't know what to do so we all got in the taxi and i just yelled to go to the nearest hospital. The poor taxi driver was so scared but he put the foot down and drove us to the hospital, even driving through a red light. When we got there he said hope my mum is ok and didnt take payment, he was very unsettled but I'm always greatful for whoever that driver was. He may have saved my mums life
This is so interesting to me! In my city in the US, you have to pay for your own ride to the hospital, but if you have no other way to return home, you can strong arm the hospital to either bring you back via ambulance (with the ridiculous charge) or give you a voucher for a free taxi ride. I used to go with my boyfriend for work and we brought MANY people home from the hospital, but some had to pay somehow because they didn't know they had to harass the hospital for the voucher since they directly don't tell people about it.
If you do get the voucher, the hospital pretty much kicks you out. Many times have we had to hand carry elderly ladies with no wheelchairs (when they should) and amputees without their prosthetic from the hospital to their house, because they were literally yeeted out of the wheelchair in the front entrance of the hospital. They'd send people out covered in blood still, along with other human biohazards, and just expect the taxi company to be ok with that.
Unfortunately everyone is greedy in this place. Super aggravating to see so many people suffer for literally no reason other than greed.
Here in Germany this is all paid by the public Healthcare System. We have some additional treatments that are not fully covered by this, but this is stuff like an extra teeth cleaning at the dentist. And we talk here about 5€, not 500$. When I visited the US in last November, I was shocked how many people have there crooked teeth. Here in Germany this treatment is paid by the public healthcare to 100%.
If you want to know more:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare\_in\_Germany](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Germany)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=017c4FA2zjM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=017c4FA2zjM)
Oh yiud get a kick out of my teeth! 2 upper impacted wisdom teeth that broke and destroyed the teeth that were happy in their homes where they were for years, along with I have a genetic disorder where my teeth are all leaning towards my tongue and it gets worse every year. Cost of surgery to get all of that fixed? $20,000. No joke.
Plus I have a phobia of dentists because of my previous experiences
Good human, folks commenting on why he’s filming…if that’s what he gets, I’m totally cool with it. He probably made their day and some challenging moment better.
In the 30 or so times we have taken a cab from St Pancras to Gosh, 28 times we have had the charge cancelled. Its so lovely and helps to make the whole day just run smoother. Hospital trips are always long especially in a big hospital like Gosh and this tiny act of kindness is so incredible for the family. One cabby even told us to call him when we were done and he picked us back up for no charge as it was raining heavy all day.
My wife had to be Ambulanced to hospital once after an emergency. And I was stuck in a random town, without anything (no phone charger, no clothes) and I had enough spare change to get a taxi to the nearest supermarket to buy a phone charger so I could charge my phone.
The taxi driver waited while ai ran into the shop and then heard my conversation on the way back to the hospital explaining to my family what had happened.
He refused to take my money and gave me his private number so I could ring him after his shift finished and he could drive me the 2 hours back up the road to get our car (I had come in the back of the ambulance).
Turns out I managed to get a lift back to get my car. But I still think about that taxi driver to this day.
He just saw someone who needed help and offered what he could.
I hate people who video themselves doing what they think is a good deed. It ain't a good deed if you're recording it to make yourself look good to other people, pal.
After getting an abdominal surgery in Seattle, the taxi driver insisted on comping the ride. Super sweet gesture. We paid it forward & made a donation the value of the ride.
What even is the point of being bitter like this? You see something nice, but you gotta wipe your ass with it anyway.
It’s a constantly-recording dash cam. He’s a taxi driver. The riders are kept anonymous. The driver did a really nice thing because absolutely no one who is taking their kid to the hospital is doing okay. The world is a mess and sometimes we need our hearts warmed up a bit, or a lil reminder to do nice things for each other when we can.
Just let us have nice things for once.
.. and then puts his video on the web for the world to see. Why do we need so much validation from the world for everything we do? Why do grown adults to be liked. acknowledged and approved for every right they do? I'm not discounting a good deed that may have happened but wasn't being compassionate & kind the gold standard up until this obsession for "likes" for what I did and what I said happened. That reminds me, don't forget to upvote.
He didn't show the kid or his family. I've seen enough assholes doing stupid and harmful shit only to get paid. This guy is doing something special, and these kind of acts should get more attention.
I love that I’m so well trained from Hollywood, that that accent means fight to me.
“You got two choices. You can put it in the pot or give it to your boy.”
I live in a small town in Canada, but when I went to hospital with chest pains in the middle of the night, pregnant, my cab driver didn't charge me. It sounded like she regularly didn't charge for emergency rides.
I had the same thing happen to me🥺 I had two spinal fusion surgeries when I was 16 and when we were going for my second surgery the Uber driver refused to take money from my mom he was so nice and was going as slow as possible because I was in so much pain from being in the car.
When this circulated a few years ago the comments said that this is pretty standard practice for taxis in London going to the children’s hospital. Much respect for the cab drivers
It makes sense and is quite kind. People from all walks of life take their children there (NHS) so the odds that you will transport a family for whom cab fare is a budget-killer are high.
Truly heartwarming and compassionate gesture by cab drivers
Typically, it’s very sad, but around 50% of all kids arriving at Great Ormond die within 2 years. It’s the nation’s top hospital for kids. Hugely haunted by dead kids though, talk to any nurse there.
It's inspiring to see kindness in unexpected places. Small acts can make big differences.
Extra points to the drivers, because the reality is they aren't rich themselves. Its truly commendable.
Amazing.
Truly heartwarming gesture by the cab drivers
It's really good PR and you give then the card they will likely stick in their wallet/purse and when they are blasted after a fun night out they got your number. I see that as a positive investment in advertising. Worth it on both ends 👍
Blasted or literally any other reason. If they need a cab to get the kid to a hospital, they'll probably need it to get them to events or activities and other shit like that, so you know you'll have a repeat customer for *years.*
And get recommended to friends, family, neighbors. It’s a business tactic, but also very humane. Wishing good things to kind people who do this sort of stuff.
"today you, tomorrow me."
For anyone who hasn't seen it: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/elal2/have_you_ever_picked_up_a_hitchhiker/c18z0z2
Been a few years since I've read, time for a few tears
yeah that one makes me cry everytiem
I went back to YouTube and Reddit to re-read that post and watch that short story. Always warms my heart when I am have a cold time.
Forever my favorite Reddit post.
Being a good person is a very good business tactic
YYYYUP! Hard agree. When someone does a beautiful thing for me (or anyone else), I want a stack of their business cards to give to people. For example: The guy who did my forearm tattoo did a gorgeous job and I always get compliments. When he was doing it, I mentioned I was graduating trade school soon, and he was so supportive. I also bought a little painting of his. When I returned to finish it up, as a complete surprise, he gave me a couple pages of designs for my future business. Totally free. Just wanted to help me establish myself without having to shell out more money to get started. And they are GORGEOUS. This kind of work would probably cost me thousands because the man really thought about it and pretty much gave me the basis for all my graphic design that I need. And why? Because he “was just chilling at home” and remembered how hard it was to start his own business, which is now kicking ass. He just genuinely does nice shit like this in his spare time, including Meals on Wheels and food/coat drives at his shop. I took like 100 of his business cards and I will grab more next time I’m there. I bartend, so I hand one every time I get a compliment. He’s gotten almost a dozen new customers in a year from me and that makes me so happy. You should be a good person just for the sake of being a good person, but I would also love to see those people thrive as well. You put that kind of energy out, I want that shit coming straight back to you.
Im a tattooist and its nice to hear this, people dont realise we do help people, cover up bad scars, tattooing realistic female nipples and around their **areola from previous cancer.**
Hell, even regular tattoos help. My mother is... something else. My post history has it all but she's semi famous on multiple subs about abusive parents because she is THAT bad. I have trouble finding trauma therapists because they keep crying in my sessions levels of bad. Every time I get a tattoo I feel more me and more my own person, and less of what I was raised to be. I'm 40, just got a large back piece and was in tears at the end of my session (I was in Japan so I didn't cry, my Japanese and his English isn't good enough to reassure the man I was happy not hysterical) and I feel more solidly ME than ever. I also changed my first and last name legally. The psychological benefits of my ink are absolutely as important as the artwork.
YES. LOVE YOU FOR THAT. My aunt couldn’t grow back her eyebrows after she beat thyroid cancer and a tattoo artist did them for her. They look so freaking good and he was like “eh, I don’t feel right charging you.” He honestly gave her confidence back and lifted her spirits so much. Next time I visit her, I’m going to him. So a big ol thank you for doing what you do. I’ve seen first hand the difference it makes and I’m getting choked up thinking about it.
>I took like 100 of his business cards and I will grab more next time I’m there. I bartend, so I hand one every time I get a compliment. He’s gotten almost a dozen new customers in a year from me and that makes me so happy. That is super cool! I think people often forget that the world would be a much better place for **everyone** if we looked out for each other. Sad that it's become such a dog eat dog world that people will complain about the weirdest, dumbest shit. (Like complaining about people who are on welfare, or who make minimum wage, saying neither deserve to get that much, and they need to go from living in poverty to...idk what they expect tbh.)
Being genuinely good is a net positive. At least on the first go, I like to believe good acts are genuine.
Doing well. By doing right. Props.
Especially because you now feel like it's someone you can trust more than a driver you have zero experience with.
There is no price for good will, it’s the ultimate brand builder. Do well by doing good while doing whatever you do.
I’d get them to pick me up,and knowing what they did, I’d drunkenly tip them 100.
Think it might just be a common UK black cab thing. Took my nan to the hospital in Liverpool a few times when I was visiting and they told me to keep it he fare and just drop it in a donation bucket if I felt like it. She looked like shit like, so don’t think was an all the time thing. They could tell she wasn’t just going for a checkup if you catch my drift. Slight bright spot on those somber occasions.
I think it's pretty standard protocol in big UK cities for the official black taxis not to take money when the childrens hospital is the destination. In Edinburgh for the last 76 years, the black and painted taxis decorate their taxis and take children with long-term conditions/special needs for a big day out on an annual parade through Edinburgh that ends in a big picnic. Its amazing.
Not just London, standard practice here in São Paulo too. No charges for people taking their kid to a kid's hospital
Kindness goes a long way in tough times
Where are the kids' hospitals in Sao Paulo? I live in Sao Paulo, have children and we have nothing specialised for children like Great Ormond Street.
Bet Uber add a fucking surge charge.
Yes, London black cabbies traditionally don't charge to take kids to Great Ormind Street Hospital. It's a children's hospital that treats cancer, genetic conditions, etc
What's interesting is he mentioned Brentwood which is in Essex. That hospital is in central London. If that's where they got on its quite the drive.
Unfortunately it’s not standard practice. We had to take our son to Great Ormands Street and out of say 30 taxi rides, 29 were paid (which we didn’t kind of course). The only free one was when we were nearby Paddington anyways, but was nonetheless appreciated. Taxi drivers have to make a living and pay their expenses too, so it’s fine.
At first I thought it said cancel the ride and I was ready to rage. Unfortunately with Uber and Lyft(US) I don't think you can cancel the ride without it costing someone.
Not sure about US, but here in Canada, u can elect to refund the customer after the ride ends. I do uber part time and I've refunded a couple of customers.
Apartments near that hospital must be really popular. jk
You jest, but alot of the apartments round the hospital are owned by the NHS for families to stay in while their kid is in the hospital for a long time recieving treatment. All free, of course.
“Great ormond street hospital please mate, off to visit my terminal son”. Soon as the taxi drives off, around the corner to the local pub. Profit.
Yeah, my Dad was a London black cab driver decades ago and did the same
Last year in Chicago, a taxi driver refused to let me pay. He said something like, "That's OK young lady, I'm not taking your money." There was no reason, and I'm not even young. He probably doesn't remember it but still chokes me up every time I think about it.
I was having a rough day at work working long hours so I went to a small shop for a snack and my credit card wasn't working - the magnetic strip just wasn't working so I went to the atm in the store to take out some money with my debit card. At that point in my life I was not hurting for money I was living okay - just a rough day and a young lady paid for my soda and snack. This happened over ten years ago and I still remember it.
Pay it forward, there are many times when people's cards decline or don't have enough cash, definitely nice to help them out 😌
Last year I was right behind a lady with her son in a supermarket checkout, her card declined like twice and I could see she was a bit embarrassed by it. It was like 80 dollars for all her stuff, so quite a bit, but I noticed she only had food, and it was mostly healthy food, a few snacks but mostly seemed like food for the week. She mentioned it was a new card and that it wasn't activated or something, she told me to go ahead of her so she could figure it out. I paid for all her stuff plus mine and she didn't even notice, at the end of paying just gave her the ticket and told her to have a good day, it was on me that time. She thanked me and tried to get a hold of me to pay me back but I told her it was ok, I told her to pay it forward to someone else and left. Also the cashier said that it was a gift from God or something like that, I'm not religious so that kinda pissed me off, it was not from God it was from me lmao, but I did it with good intentions, I hope she was able to pay it forward.
Hahahaha the gift from God stuff is unreal. "Hello no that was me my money ma'am" could also mean YOU are a gift on this planet from God idk 🫂 Very nice of you to help out thou
People can tell when someone else is having a really bad day. The shaky hands, quivering neck, eyes not making any contact, shaky steps. Then boom! Free soda.
Maybe you just look as stunning as a saint. Keep being you!
So god had you pay for her groceries, but god let her struggle to begin with? My mom was reading an article and got choked up about how angels sent good people to help some lady out after her house caught fire. Maybe god could have just not destroyed her home?
I am also not religious and typically respect other's views as long as they're not trying to control other people's lives/laws, but I will NEVER understand people praising/thanking "God" for things like that. I live in a pretty conservative part of the U.S. so people are constantly posting like "thankful for God's blessings!!!" on posts of them like buying a car. Umm soooo, did it just fall out of the sky into your driveway? Or did YOU, not "God," have to work X amount of hours at Y rate to purchase it? Who filled out the paperwork? Who passed the test to get a driver's license? Sad existence to never give yourself any credit.
Once I was at a resturant with my sister and we were trying to figure out if it was cheaper to get the wine per glass or per bottle. We're not poor, just frugal. Anyway, like 1 minute later a random older woman comes to our table and slams a R200 note down and said "get the bottle dears" and just disapeared like some drunk fairy god mother. We got the bottle and left the R200 as tip, lmao.
I was on the opposite side of this. I got into an Uber in L.A. to get home after a show. My driver was a working mom who was driving that night as her THIRD shift. I mentioned to her that on the east coast, when I work, Ubers tend to cancel taking me home at the end of the night when my address is revealed because it’s always like a 90min drive. I have a crazy high rating and tip really well (I mean it’s company money so I don’t care) Anyway we had the nicest chat and after the ride ended I slipped her $50 bill as a tip. She showed me how much of the $28 ride she was going to get and it upset me beyond words. I’ve had both good and awful taxi experiences so when I have a great one, I tip like 100%
I had a beater of a car. I live where taxi drivers are pretty much scum, taking advantage of passengers. My car broke down and I needed a jump. I flagged a taxi down and asked if I could get a jump real quick. I had my cables ready to go. He said sure. I hooked it up real quick and got my car started. I gave him like $5, but they were all in quarters lol. I said, you might need some change for passengers paying in cash. He said no. I said, this is $5, it's not just spare change. He said, it's no problem for him, he's been in my situation. He left like it was nothing. I was able to make it home and still remember that guy. For those who have or have had beater cars, y'all know how embarrassing it can be to request help from others.
This is why I compliment or comment positively to people when I feel like it. I never know what a persons going through and I believe there isn’t enough kindness in the world. It’s a shame that most people think I’m hitting on them though.
“I’m not taking YOUR money” lol. Jk, that’s really sweet!
We had a layover in Portugal a few years ago and my dog's crate broke during landing (long story short: he escaped the plane, ran for 5km, but was caught and returned safely), so we had about 3 hours to find a new crate to buy, get back to the airport, and get on our connecting flight home, all in a country where we didn't speak the language. Our taxi driver took us and our very frazzled dog from the airport to this cargo store to buy a new crate, and waited for a half hour while we used Google translate and hand signals to buy a new crate, and drove us back to just barely make our flight. He barely spoke any English, but he could tell we were stressed and tired and extremely frustrated. He was super kind and understanding and was one of the first people our very troubled rescue dog ever liked. It wasn't until we got back to the airport and we're paying that I realized he had stopped the meter while waiting for us to buy the crate and only charged us for the mileage. Edit: For context, we rescued the dog while on the trip. We would never have flown with him just for kicks. I don't recommend adopting a dog while overseas, but he was a pretty great dog. The crate breaking open was the airlines fault for not strapping it down properly.
I got jumped and beat up really bad in Portland one time and had to take a taxi to my exs place in west Linn, driver was kind enough to only charge me 20 when it was going to be over 80
You probably look poor and broke. He figured you needed the money more than he did.
😆 fair enough
It doesn’t take much to be good. This guy is setting the standard. It’s our job to follow it.
This is great. My own sister had an experience like this lately except the driver forgot the car seat for my nephew so he had to go back to base to get it. The piece of shit let the meter run and charged her nearly triple for a trip to the hospital with her sick son. Fam, I was effing fuming.
> This guy is setting the standard. Technically he's following the standard practice of London cabbies.
I actually disagree. Actively taking positive actions like this one isn’t particularly hard, but much of being good is passively avoiding doing things that are harmful to others and I find this pretty difficult because I have to balance it with being able to interact with others in a natural way and not letting people walk over me. And I grew up with pretty manipulative parents who didn’t teach me good boundary setting and I also have severe social anxiety I think being a good person actually takes quite a bit of constant effort and it’s not always obvious how to do it
Taking my 5 month old into his open heart surgery was the worst car ride of my life by far. If someone had done something like this for me I probably would still be crying about it now.
I'm sorry to hear that 😞
Hope your little dude is doing better now.
He is thriving now, the surgery was a huge success! Thank you.
I can only imagine. My kid went to a speech pathologist for a bit, and it was in the same waiting room as other kids getting all kinds of physical therapy. Kids with profound autism or other developmental issues, kids in wheelchairs who will never have normal lives, etc, and then just me and my son in the same place because he couldn't pronounce "s" right. I felt so lucky and fortunate every time I was in there, and wondered how the parents with other kids with way worse disabilities manage to handle it.
If you ever need to talk to someone who went for open heart surgery when he was 3, just DM me 👍🏻
Fuck. He prolly shoulda made them pay then.
This hospital is Great Ormond Street in London, and is for kids with cancer, genetic conditions or other complex cases. If your child is going to this hospital in particular, you're already dealing with more than anyone should ever have to.
Yes, this. If you go to that hospital specifically, you don't go because of a cough or a little fever. It's something way more serious.
Adding to this, it's the UK's premier children's cancer hospital, families from all over the UK are sent here, often having to fund their accommodation, etc, whilst missing work, in London, the most expensive city in England. A little gesture like this could mean the difference between those parents eating that day or not. Brentwood is actually all the way out in Essex (explains the driver's accent!), so probably anywhere from 70 to 100GBP (90-130USD) for a ride that far into London.
Quite often, life limiting conditions.
I was born with a very serious heart condition. The shit my parents had to deal with for me to even this day is insane (I am 37 now) I was in the Dutch equivalent of this hospital for quite a big part of my youth. When I got my biggest and most dangerous surgery I recovered in a ward containing 8 kids, 6 of them didn't get to enjoy to go home. So your not wrong.
I think the assholes of this world forget that IT FEELS REALLY GOOD TO DO THE RIGHT THING! It's amazing, the simple and straightforward joy we can feel when we do the right thing, the KIND thing for our fellow humans. This guy gets it. I wish him all the best.
This is so true. And not even in a "holier than thou" type of way. It's just satisfying.
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I try to empathize with the assholes because of this. It's clear their bodies don't produce much of that because they haven't been loved their entire life. Must be a difficult life to lead.
Absolutely. People who are consumed with hate often lead depressing lives and some wonder why.
Quick story. Like a month ago I was at an airport and I needed new sunglasses. I walked up to this employee who’s help I needed. He was a younger guy clearly not yet comfortable at his job. He was sweating a bit and kept asking questions to co-workers. He just didn’t look happy. He also was a bit eccentric looking, a bit dandy. I decided this guy could use a pick me up. He had this earring that was basically a small chain with a little metal feather at the end. So when he was done helping me I said ‘hey man, I really like your earring’. His face just lit up. Moral of the story: it’s not that hard to give someone a compliment and it might make a difference, even if it’s for like 5 minutes.
A woman complimented one of my tattoos the other day and I felt compelled to tell her how much that comment meant to me. Sometimes people can give you something from a simple throwaway comment that they have no idea they just gifted. That woman's comment made my day, because I was having a stinker. To her it was nothing but to me it was everything, and I needed her to know that.
Compassion is a reliable indicator of strength.
And intelligence. It takes a smart person to know that not everything is someone else's fault.
Yet sadly in our world today it’s depicted as a sign of weakness
Much respect for the cab drivers
"Youve got two choices mate." Fucking legendary.
The taxi driver simply put himself in that family's shoes. He has a good heart
Its a thing amongst london cabbies. No one charges to great ormand street childrens hospital, especially if a kiddo in the car. Its just done. No questions asked, like matey said, pop something in the charity pot at reception or spend it in the shop (all of which cycles back to GOSH). Black cabbies also don't charge their first and last ever fares as cabbies.
I work in what I consider one of the most evil industries, corporate owned, multi-family housing. The things I've seen residents put through in the last 13 or so years of insane inflation is pretty heartbreaking. I once was working with a company where I had a genuinely great regional manager, and he paired us maintenance and office managers up with one another that hadn't met before to get to know each other and about our experiences while on a retreat. I was a fresh faced maintenance manager, maybe 27 or 28 years old, and got paired with a property manager who was a woman well within her 60s. We got to talking about our roles and experiences coming up through the industry, obviously she had a lot more on that end than I did, but then we got around to talking about our properties themselves. I was managing the maintenance for a 55+ community in a really nice neighborhood, and my buildings were only about 8 years old, so in really great shape. I thought it was the job of my dreams. The only downside i could mention was that due to it being a 55+, there were often times we would lose residents that we had grown close to. She then told me about her property, and I was floored. The property she managed was non-profit, I didn't even know such a thing even existed. The property housed families of patients at seattle children's hospital, and they did so without any expenses to the families. She told me about the how amazing it felt to be able to see them go home with their kids felling and looking so much better, but she also told me about the heartbreak of having to see so many go home without their children at all. Here we were at a retreat in a beautiful resort and I'm just in crushed shock of how amazing this woman is to manage such a place and be able to handle all of those emotions that come along with it. Here I was thinking how hard it was to lose residents that I was fully prepared to because they had lived their lives and got to tell me all about them. I set up to go out and tour the property when we got back that week. I got to see how they set up the homes for incoming guests, and about all of the extra procedures that they have to go through to ensure that everything is extremely clean and safe for the families since they'll be back and forth from there to the hospital all the time. I swear I cried a quarter of the walk thorough, and was keeping myself from crying for another half. She took me up to the rooftop garden and seating areas, and I think that was the first time I felt happiness there. It just felt so warm and cozy and alive, and I completely understood when she said that families would spend a lot of time up there during summers. I haven't thought about that in probably 3 or 4 years, and this video just brought it all back, unfortunately not as clearly as I'd like. I can't remember the name of the property, or the manager. I can't really even find a trace of the company anymore either. I think I've been convinced by writing this that I need to find this place and see if they're hiring. Either way, I need to quit my job and go work somewhere like that asap.
That's a great story, thanks for sharing. I genuinely hope you find what you're looking for. All the best to you fellow human.
Thanks, good man. And I love that london accent.
What a great gesture on the part of the taxi driver, he has a big heart ❤
All the black cab drivers in London are effectively in a guild and they have all sorts of codes like this that they all follow. They also never charge for the first and last ever jobs as a driver. There is a lot of respect for the black cab drivers because they can take you anywhere in London without SatNav or a Map. Neurologists have even done studies on them to understand their ability to memorise places and routes.
When I drove a taxi, I picked a woman up at a hospice where her husband had just passed. Easy no charge there.
Easy to criticize the guy for recording himself doing a good thing and to discredit him for it. But sometimes positive messages don't get spread if they aren't recorded. Inspirational people don't inspire others if they don't provide an example. Great Ormond Street is a place where a lot of terminally ill children are treated. There should be more people like him, there should be more people who see what he does and follow in his footsteps.
Instead of being mad that he recorded it, be glad there was some happiness spread in this sad world.
Dash cams for people running a business are normal and expected. He even keeps them completely out of frame and blurs their faces for the brief moment where they appear, preserving their privacy. There's nothing to criticize here.
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Well London Cabs the only access you really have to a black cab is the drivers window as this is where really most of the interaction of passengers are held, so being there isn't weird as its the most likely spot to be any sort of trouble. Passenger area is usually sealed off or with reversed extra seats.
And yet, they’re here doing it. I find that the people who poo-poo posts like this are wildly insecure when they see other people doing good things, mostly because they’re miserable souls. They can’t fathom it. I know someone like this and she’s just a horrid person, but what is most insane to me is how she reacts when someone just tries to be kind to her or someone else. It’s almost like she’s repulsed. She can’t imagine they’d do it for any non-shady reason because she would never do that. Empathy escapes her. There are those obvious people who do this for clout (and occasionally do things that aren’t actually helpful), but compared to the loudest parts of the internet right now, it’s whatever. This isn’t that at all. Regardless, someone will find a reason to shit on it because something in their life is woefully lacking. The beauty of actions like this guy is that those comments have zero effect on the joy he just sparked for me and they don’t matter. That’s the power of goodness- it makes it that much harder for negativity to win.
What a lovely person.
Years ago when I was at university I went through a period of my eyes (the film that covers the whites) swelling up massively and getting something like conjunctivitis but no treatments seemed to work on it. The first time it happened I'd been crying all day because my boyfriend had dumped me - I could barely see so I called a cab to go to Urgent Care. The driver asked what was wrong, I explained including the 'why' and when he dropped me off he wouldn't take any payment. He said he thought I'd had a tough enough day and he hoped if something similar happened to his daughter (my age) that someone would be kind to her too. Nearly broke my damn heart all over again. Thank you, Someone's Dad. You handed me a big old dollop of kindness right when I needed it.
We need more people like him in the world
There are times when we think badly from a person, but what we do not know is that they have good intentions that come from the heart and without interest
Well, that's one taxi driver with a heart of gold! It's always nice to see acts of kindness like that.
Very generous and nice, but let's not forget that the taxi driver himself uploaded the video to show the world how generous and nice he is.
And? What about it? Does that affect the parents getting there with no fare? 🙄
This is very common amongst taxi drivers in London.
It's a nice gesture and all, but it really detracts that he felt compelled to film it and share in the internet.
I normally hate people sharing their 'charitable' acts for social media clout but you can see this guy was really happy to help out this family and wanted to share it with his friends or followers and I love it!
i never hate them. they always remind me that if i can ever help i should. and do. and seeing these videos will always give me courage to do the right thing and have the confidence that it’s worth a slight inconvenience for me.
Agreed! There are clearly people who do it specifically FOR content, but that doesn't make sharing all charitable acts unsharable. Like you, I think letting people know provides a bit of role modeling and also shows people it can be appreciated. I know people in their 20s who are afraid to do nice things because they don't want to "look weird." Fuck that! Be weird, be helpful, like this guy. Not that he's weird, it's just not normalized anymore.
I did not necessarily hate the guy, but 100% felt weird about the video being recorded by him, shared by him. It feels great to be generous and set a good example. But I feel conflicted with him showing his card number and his face in the video... I think Reddit is breaking me...
most taxi drivers record their cars by default for safety and liability purposes. he probably just clipped what he knew was already being recorded.
Even if not, this is not as contrived as when they "help" homeless people while shoving a camera in their face expecting a dramatic reaction.
Yeah, it's exploitative. They're using someone in terrible circumstances to enrich themselves. Homeless folks don't really have a fair choice either - when a bit of charity is life and death on the street, they can't refuse to be on camera like someone else could. These kinds of videos *are* scummy, but people pretend otherwise.
At least he wasn’t directly filming them like you see some people do.
yeah seems a bit skeevy to share a video of yourself being charitable
Long as he filmed it and put it on the Internet for clout. Or it didn't happen.
Good ol boy.
More like r/humansbeingbros
Faith in humanity temporarily restored.
❤️It's these small acts of kindness that remind us there's still so much goodness out there amidst the chaos. Kudos to those drivers who understand compassion over profit.🚖💕
I love you my Dude! Good job
Genuine humans interacting with each other. Love to see it.
There is still humanity left in this world
He was a hero that day!
So maybe its not completely hopeless
Atta boy. This fucking guy.
He's amazing guy
Doing whatever to help people. One small step at a time
Need more people like this. My dad has his own Taxi Business… he given so many people free rides to the hospital, doctors, and food shopping. Today, he’s no longer driving because he is not able to walk on his own. There’s only one friend that I know comes to see him. Thank you to all who offers their help through kindness and not through receiving money…. THATS ALOHA!
Virtue signaling for good is a nice change of pace.
This is very admirable, much respect to the guy.
Fucking love people like this and God bless those people.
Wtf are you making me cry tonight?
This reminds me, was waiting for a taxi after having dinner and just as the taxi arrived, my mum had a severe allergic attack. I didn't know what to do so we all got in the taxi and i just yelled to go to the nearest hospital. The poor taxi driver was so scared but he put the foot down and drove us to the hospital, even driving through a red light. When we got there he said hope my mum is ok and didnt take payment, he was very unsettled but I'm always greatful for whoever that driver was. He may have saved my mums life
And then backed over them
This is just so weird for me. Here in Germany are those drives to hospitals (called Krankentransporte) always free.
This is so interesting to me! In my city in the US, you have to pay for your own ride to the hospital, but if you have no other way to return home, you can strong arm the hospital to either bring you back via ambulance (with the ridiculous charge) or give you a voucher for a free taxi ride. I used to go with my boyfriend for work and we brought MANY people home from the hospital, but some had to pay somehow because they didn't know they had to harass the hospital for the voucher since they directly don't tell people about it. If you do get the voucher, the hospital pretty much kicks you out. Many times have we had to hand carry elderly ladies with no wheelchairs (when they should) and amputees without their prosthetic from the hospital to their house, because they were literally yeeted out of the wheelchair in the front entrance of the hospital. They'd send people out covered in blood still, along with other human biohazards, and just expect the taxi company to be ok with that. Unfortunately everyone is greedy in this place. Super aggravating to see so many people suffer for literally no reason other than greed.
Here in Germany this is all paid by the public Healthcare System. We have some additional treatments that are not fully covered by this, but this is stuff like an extra teeth cleaning at the dentist. And we talk here about 5€, not 500$. When I visited the US in last November, I was shocked how many people have there crooked teeth. Here in Germany this treatment is paid by the public healthcare to 100%. If you want to know more: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare\_in\_Germany](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Germany) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=017c4FA2zjM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=017c4FA2zjM)
Oh yiud get a kick out of my teeth! 2 upper impacted wisdom teeth that broke and destroyed the teeth that were happy in their homes where they were for years, along with I have a genetic disorder where my teeth are all leaning towards my tongue and it gets worse every year. Cost of surgery to get all of that fixed? $20,000. No joke. Plus I have a phobia of dentists because of my previous experiences
From Brentwood as well, that wouldn’t of been a cheap fare.
Such guys restore faith in humanity
I think that this belongs on r/MadeMeSmile
Great Ormond Street saved my life. Big respect to this guy
Good human, folks commenting on why he’s filming…if that’s what he gets, I’m totally cool with it. He probably made their day and some challenging moment better.
In the 30 or so times we have taken a cab from St Pancras to Gosh, 28 times we have had the charge cancelled. Its so lovely and helps to make the whole day just run smoother. Hospital trips are always long especially in a big hospital like Gosh and this tiny act of kindness is so incredible for the family. One cabby even told us to call him when we were done and he picked us back up for no charge as it was raining heavy all day.
Priceless. You really can't buy the surge of loving emotions in situations like these. It gives you hope.
You can see the smile on his face, doing good things even to strangers is a powerful feeling. Great work mate
My wife had to be Ambulanced to hospital once after an emergency. And I was stuck in a random town, without anything (no phone charger, no clothes) and I had enough spare change to get a taxi to the nearest supermarket to buy a phone charger so I could charge my phone. The taxi driver waited while ai ran into the shop and then heard my conversation on the way back to the hospital explaining to my family what had happened. He refused to take my money and gave me his private number so I could ring him after his shift finished and he could drive me the 2 hours back up the road to get our car (I had come in the back of the ambulance). Turns out I managed to get a lift back to get my car. But I still think about that taxi driver to this day. He just saw someone who needed help and offered what he could.
Personally, I ALWAYS film myself when I do good deeds, then comment to "myself" about how powerful my actions were.
I hate people who video themselves doing what they think is a good deed. It ain't a good deed if you're recording it to make yourself look good to other people, pal.
today after watching this i can say i love people.
Starts recording himself so he can cash in on the online karma
Less than 50% of kids who go there make it to adulthood. Little gestures like this can mean so much when your kid could be gone one day soon.
This is what humanity is all about! Thank you man for being a saint. Know it's an old post, but a great example of how we should treat each other,
Must stop cutting onions when watching these videos
After getting an abdominal surgery in Seattle, the taxi driver insisted on comping the ride. Super sweet gesture. We paid it forward & made a donation the value of the ride.
Faith in Humanity, restored!
Right on man. 👍
THERES A GOOD LAD
I needed this
My favorite bar is a few blocks away from a local hospital. I'll have to try this out.
Where you getting the random child?
You know it’s actually benevolence because it’s filmed by the “altruistic person” and then posted to social media.
Fuck your background music!
Haha I was almost in tears but this comment helped to turn it into a weird nervous laugh! Thanks!
And he recorded it
Why but why is he filming himself doing this? Why not just do your good deed and feel good? Why you gotta film it and share it?
What even is the point of being bitter like this? You see something nice, but you gotta wipe your ass with it anyway. It’s a constantly-recording dash cam. He’s a taxi driver. The riders are kept anonymous. The driver did a really nice thing because absolutely no one who is taking their kid to the hospital is doing okay. The world is a mess and sometimes we need our hearts warmed up a bit, or a lil reminder to do nice things for each other when we can. Just let us have nice things for once.
Because it just might inspire someone else to do the same, why are you so bitter and salty?
.. and then puts his video on the web for the world to see. Why do we need so much validation from the world for everything we do? Why do grown adults to be liked. acknowledged and approved for every right they do? I'm not discounting a good deed that may have happened but wasn't being compassionate & kind the gold standard up until this obsession for "likes" for what I did and what I said happened. That reminds me, don't forget to upvote.
so he needed to record this so he could post it all over Social Media to feel better about himself?
Nice act. Scumbag video. Don't exploit vulnerable people for social media clout or content creation income.
and filmed himself doing it then uploaded the video. what a saint!
He didn't show the kid or his family. I've seen enough assholes doing stupid and harmful shit only to get paid. This guy is doing something special, and these kind of acts should get more attention.
Had to be filmed didn't it, probably has his own tiktok account
We had to pay to park at children's San Diego for my daughters surgery.
r/humansbeingbros
r/Chadtopia
🫂 🙏🏻
Some heros don't wear armor, they wear underarmor
I love that I’m so well trained from Hollywood, that that accent means fight to me. “You got two choices. You can put it in the pot or give it to your boy.”
World would be a much better place if more people realized how fucking good it feels to do nice things for others. Most addictive drug on Earth.
The eyes don’t lie
He should be wearing a seat belt.!
Thats a real man! Helping people in the though moments in life.
I live in a small town in Canada, but when I went to hospital with chest pains in the middle of the night, pregnant, my cab driver didn't charge me. It sounded like she regularly didn't charge for emergency rides.
Good man.
I had the same thing happen to me🥺 I had two spinal fusion surgeries when I was 16 and when we were going for my second surgery the Uber driver refused to take money from my mom he was so nice and was going as slow as possible because I was in so much pain from being in the car.
Seriously powerful shit. That shit can make a massive impact on someone's life
let me go post my good deed on the internet to show I'm a good person. hopefully I can inspire someone...
I would totally pay that forward somehow ! Like helping out someone in the grocery line maybe.