Houston
Driving a limousine is a unique job. It allows one to see the world from a totally different perspective - being neither a participant in an event nor a spectator. Things can be seen from WITHIN, while safely wearing a Tolkein Cloak of Invisibility!
If one is a professional chauffeur, conversations with clients (when there IS a conversation!) are initiated by the client, not the driver. A true chauffeur never takes part in whatever activity is taking place, even though he might be caught up in the thick of it!As with everything else, there are exceptions. This is where life gets interesting.
I was not only a chauffeur, but also a licensed tourguide for the City of New Orleans. As such, I was in demand by the concièrges at the city's finest hotels. Showing their clients a good time means repeat business for them, and it came back to me in the form of requests for services - a quid pro quo arrangement.
One day I got a request from one of the city's leading concièrges. There were these two elderly ladies from Australia, who wanted to see not only the city but the outlying areas, including the old plantation homes upriver from the city. They particularly wanted someone familiar with the area and its interesting history.
I picked them up from their exclusive hotel and found in them the most delightful people I ever had the pleasure of driving. There was not a touch of "Home, James!" arrogance about them. They were proper yet with a sense of humour and a joie de vivre we all should be blessed with!
The city tour behind us, we headed out I-10 West towards the area where some of the South's most beautiful and pictoresque plantation homes could be found. As we passed over a long bridge, the ladies delighted in seeing a swamp for the first time. This was a typical Louisiana nature scene, and they were drinking it in like fine champagne.
I explained that several million years ago the whole area looked like this, and that the swamp they saw here was once part of the Everglades - the very same that still exists in south Florida. At that moment, dozens of beautiful white birds flew overhead and came to rest in an area of marsh. They immediately asked me what they were, and I explained that they were Egrets, also alled "cow-birds" by the locals for their penchant for perching on or near those gentile animals. I furthermore explained that this area was a rookery or nesting area for the egrets, somewhat like San Juan de Capistrano is for the swallows. (I was referring to their visit earlier to Capistrano.)
I then told them that Frank Sinatra had made these birds famous with a major hit song. Tried as they may, they could not think of the song I was citing, so they asked me, and I explained: "Oh, surely you've heard this song - and sang it thusly: "Egrets, I've had a few... but then again, too few to mention..." The car was filled with hearty laughter as they showed their appreciation for my cornball joke.
I pointed past the swamp and told them that I was familiar with the area since I lived just on the other side. Both of them immediately asked if they might stop by and visit my home and family. I had never had such a request before, but coming from them, it was both genuine, and quite unexpected.
Even though it might be a breach of protocol, I agreed, but not before first clearing it with my dispatch. Fraternizing with clients was strictly verboten. To my surprize, the president of the company came on the radio giving me not only his permission but his encouragement.
One can only imagine the surprize my wife and children had when I drove up unnanounced (we didn't have cellphones in those days!) in my beautiful, stretch Lincoln limousine! I invited the ladies to come inside and we had tea and a delightful visit. My wife found them intelligent and very sweet.
"We're touring the country," one of the ladies explained, in that lilting accent which is unique to their land down under.
"You have a lovely family!" said the other, watching my children at play in the living room. "We're going to see the plantation homes near here; we would like for your wife and, of course, the children to join us!"
What a kind invite, and it was from the heart. So my wife and children joined the two ladies, and we went to see some plantation homes, but most especially enjoyed each other's company. I must say that I was one happy man! In the back seat of the limo was my family, and they were having a wonderful time, and I was getting paid all the while!
Clearly, seeing buildings and tourist attractions was not what they wanted, really. They very much wanted to include us in on their vacation, and that was the human element so often forgotten when one travels abroad. Were that every vacation could include time spent with others.
Throughout my many years of work at a variety of jobs, there are things that I hold dear in my memory. This is one of the dearest.
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