To me, Gloria Steinem is like my personal life coach except she’s unaware of her position. So you can bet that I treat her book “My Life on the Road,” as a bible handed down to me from a prophet that provides me some spiritual guidance.

While I always remember Steinem’s prose because I’m such a fangirl, the chapter on her experiences with cab drivers stood out to me:

“I depended on cabbies not only to get me to my destination but to give me tips on public opinion and elections. They tend to be sh!t-free guides to the state of social issues, and are often better political predictors than most media pundits. After all, they spend more time listening to random strangers than any public opinion poll could afford; they overhear more private conversations than a wiretapper; and they often are themselves new immigrants or work with those who are. This makes them treasure troves of information on what’s really going on, not only here but in other countries.”

So when I moved to New York City about eight months ago, I was eager to experience the same educational cab rides similar to Gloria’s and to gain insight from another’s perspective. Disclaimers: I understand that not all cab rides are comfortable and pleasant and I don’t always take cabs because well, they are expensive.

Lesson No. 1: Take cabs, not Ubers and don’t judge others.

I quickly learned as I adjusted to life as a New Yorker that sometimes drivers don’t make conversation with you and that you just want to get to your destination without being bothered. So it wasn’t until July that I had a “Gloria Steinem” type cab experience. I got into the cab after working late and the driver asked me how I was. I said “good” and then asked how he was which sparked a conversation. With defeat and frustration in his voice, he said that he was having a rough night because he wasn’t getting a lot of rides. He then went on to say how Ubers are having a negative effect on the taxi industry. Like most businesses, taxi drivers need to drive a certain amount of rides or make longer trips in order to break even or make a profit. With Ubers taking away rides, the competition among taxi drivers is increasing. He informed me that being a taxi driver has taught him not to make assumptions on people’s wealth based on a first impression. “The people you think are going to tip well don’t and vise versa,” he said. He told me that one time he drove someone a few blocks, assumed he wasn’t getting tipped well and ended up receiving one of the largest tips of his life. As a cautious person I strive to be, it did cross my mind that maybe he was telling me this story just so I could pity him and tip him well. But I’m quite certain he just wanted someone to vent to and I was happy to listen.

Lesson No. 2: We must respect each other

It was another cab ride after working late. The driver told me that he likes going where I work because he gets a lot of business. I told him what hours he would get the most foot traffic around my building. After that warm-up discussion, I could tell he was itching for more conversation.

A little into the ride, he started talking about the election. “Oh lord here we go, “ I thought to myself. Politics are such a personal and sensitive topic and especially with this election, I was hesitant where this conversation was going to go so I decided to listen and not react.

“The country isn’t in a good place so maybe it’s time for a woman to be in charge,” he said. I continued listening and began nodding my head. He preached about how important respect is and how Trump lacks it.

“I’m Sikh and people make many judgements towards me because they have never met someone of my religion,” he said. “I think it’s important that schools teach kids early on about diversity. It doesn’t matter whether you’re Sikh, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, etc, we have to respect each other.”

Amen.

He explained to me how his religion isn’t as old as other ones. That was something I didn’t know and I was glad to have him as my cab driver that night.

So instead of playing games on your phone, I encourage you to strike up a conversation when you’re in a cab, you might learn something new.