[Current Culture] Model Use of Substitute Driving Services at Year-End and New Year②

The man I met while working as a designated driver at the end of the year was a very memorable person. Among all the customers I have met so far, he was the most exemplary.

1) He sent me a text message in advance with the location where he would be departing from. "A white OO car on the ground level of OO parking lot." If he informs me of the exact location and his car model beforehand, we can find each other quickly.

2) When we met, he greeted me by calling my name. "Hello, Driver Kim Minseop!" It seemed he had seen the driver information on the app. There were various titles like driver, boss, teacher, mister, excuse me, but he was the first person to call me by my name.

3) He gave me the exact address of his home and explained how to use the navigation system. "You can search for our house on the navigation. Please feel free to use the phone holder as well." Often, only the neighborhood (OO-dong) is specified, so I have to ask again. It is convenient for both if he lets me know whether I can use the navigation or the phone holder.

This is a summary of what I wrote in the previous article. The story after that is as follows.

4) He talked about the tip. "Driver, I am really sorry. I have to give cash to my coworkers, so I have no cash at all to give you a tip right now. I should have withdrawn some beforehand. Ah, really, I am sorry." I told him that it is natural to pay only the fixed fare and that it is okay not to give such things, and that just hearing him say that made me feel as if I had received a large tip, and that I would comfortably take him home. More than actually receiving tens of thousands of won as a tip, I was more grateful for his attitude that seemed to respect my labor.

5) He called his wife first. "Honey, yes, I’m coming home soon. See you soon." Honey, indeed. Some people only call their lover a few minutes before arriving home, saying "I’m almost there." Many people call their lover, friends, workplace in that order, and the last place they call is home, but the only person he called was his wife.

6) He quietly engaged in self-development. I heard him mumbling something and looked through the rearview mirror to see that he was studying a foreign language. It is hard to get away from sleeping, watching YouTube, or zoning out, but he studied even in that short time.

7) He said he would park the car himself. "Driver, if you park at the entrance, I will go in and park it." Sometimes people say that. It is probably a consideration to save the driver time spent parking. In fact, a few minutes during peak hours at night is money. I told him not to do that, parked in his apartment parking lot, and left behind him apologizing again for not being able to give a tip.

I don’t know if I will ever meet someone like him again. However, I am not confident that I could show such behavior to someone else. Even though I have done this job hundreds of times and understand it well. He looked like an ordinary office worker, yet he thought from others’ perspectives and showed an attitude for them. The reason I keep thinking about him is probably because he did such a difficult thing. Although he entrusted the driving to a designated driver, he was more autonomous than anyone else in his own life. I saw a dignity in a person that is harder to receive than tens of thousands of won in tips.

Kim Minseop, Social and Cultural Critic