Why not everyone lying on a park bench at 6 a.m. is homeless

Why not everyone lying on a park bench at 6 a.m. is homeless

During a consulting project in Mannheim, I had some fascinating encounters. I spent my nights in various Mannheim hotels, often relying on taxis. During that time, I met Ayhan. Later, Ayhan became “Brother Ayhan” to me, and I became Brother Michael to him. Ayhan is just about the most incredible taxi driver I have ever met.

Before getting into Ayhan’s taxi, I regularly went running at six in the morning. One morning, running beside the Rhine in a Mannheim park, I spotted someone lying on the next park bench from a distance. My first thought: that must be a homeless person who had spent the night there. As I was about to run past the bench, the supposedly homeless person suddenly jumped up and called out: “Brother Michael, there you are! I’ve been waiting for you for fifteen minutes.”

It really was Ayhan, who had waited there in his running clothes before his first taxi ride of the morning to join me for a run and once again entertain me wonderfully along the way. It hardly needs mentioning that, at some point, this man in his late fifties began running backwards in front of me so he could talk to me more easily. So much for my fitness level at the time.

Beyond what it revealed about my fitness, the experience made me think about how much we—or I—tend to judge situations or people within fractions of a second and put them into ready-made mental pigeonholes. Not everyone lying on a park bench beside the Rhine at 6 a.m. is homeless.

For me, Brother Ayhan also shows how enthusiastically people can embrace their work and develop perspectives quite different from the superficial view outsiders take. Ayhan does not see his job as transporting somebody from A to B. For Ayhan, it is about giving his passengers a good time. He entertains them, inspires them and studies them, seeking to learn a little more about himself and life each time. He is a people person; his north star is bringing joy to others and putting a smile on their faces and in their hearts. “Buying” a taxi ride with Ayhan is a little like Harley Davidson’s former product promise: “We sell you a dream, the bike is for free!”

Thank you, Brother Ayhan, for being the kind of person you are! You make the world a better place by doing your job with such dedication and joy.

If you ever need a taxi in Mannheim, I can recommend the man I consider the world’s best taxi driver. Get in touch and I will gladly introduce you.