Posted on 02/08/2007 8:05:43 AM PST by shrinkermd
All my life, I tried to be honest," said Osman Chowdhury, a native of Bangladesh. "Today is no different."
But the 41-year-old cabbie from Queens did have a message: "I'm proud of what I did so that people know New York taxi drivers are honest."
What he did started on Monday evening, when he picked up the woman at a hotel in midtown Manhattan and drove her to an apartment building several blocks away. She gave him $20 to pay the fare and asked for $9 back.
Hours later, at about 10 p.m., three other passengers with luggage discovered the woman's suitcase when Chowdhury popped the trunk open for them.
Chowdhury first drove to the building where he had dropped off the woman. But he had no idea in which of the many apartments she might be and didn't want to cause a disruption by knocking on doors.
He took the suitcase to the Manhattan headquarters of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, a drivers' advocacy group to which he belongs. He and the alliance president looked inside and found two display cases with 31 diamond rings inside.
"I saw flashing, and I said, 'Oh my God! Diamonds!'" Chowdhury recalled. "I was shocked. I was trembling."
They also found a small luggage tag with a Texas telephone number they called — the home of the woman's mother in Dallas. Meanwhile, she called the number, too.
The woman, who said she was a jeweler, got back the gems on Monday when she arrived at the alliance office around midnight — incredulous at her luck. She offered Chowdhury a reward — a check for $100.
"I cannot take a penny for being honest," he said, but he reluctantly accepted the money to cover the fares he lost while tracking her down
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
My girlfriend was on a business trip in NYC and left her wallet in a cab. It had over $600 in cash, her passport, and nearly $2,000 in gift cards to Nieman's and Saks. It was returned to her hotel by the cabbie with not one cent missing.
$11 to go "several" blocks?
So what's with the headline part about reecieving only a thirty cent tip? The story indicates he recieved a 100 dollar reward.
I'm thinking of the convenience store clerk on The Simpsons...Ahmed?
"I cannot take a penny for being honest,"
I see you haven't priced taxi cabs lately....
when the passenger left the cab, they gave the driver a 30 cent tip. then the driver found the rings, returned them, and received a 100 dollar reward.
I submit that returning the bag and letting the world know he recieved a 30 cent tip prior was poetic justice.
I doubt the woman has much of a concience but if she does she feels pretty rotten right about now.
I think the original fare must have been something like $10.70 and she paid $11.
We don't have them here except for the Hooptie Ride. The ride I took was $3 for about 6 miles.
Exactly....it should have been 300 bucks or so IMO for all that trouble. He did a LOT.
True, but this is in NYC. There isn't ANYTHING cheap there.
I don't understand why the article does not disclose this woman's name. Sure, she's embarrassed that she left a thirty-cent tip. Sure, she's embarrassed that she left such a valuable parcel in a cab. But, it's not like she's a sex crime victim. I would think the media would be unwilling to let her stay anonymous. I would hope everyone in Dallas would learn about her thirty-cent tip.
He only received a 30 cent tip on the cab ride. That's signifcant because it meant that he chose to be honest and return the diamonds after she completely stiffed him on the tip - not a great indicator of a good reward for returning them. I'll be honest, if I were him, I'm not sure I would've done it. I'd be pissed off at that point.
That is what I was thinking, being in the Big "D" area.
It is possible, given the accent of some of those southeast asian drivers, that she thought she heard seven instead of eleven. In that case she was tipping very generously.
A $100 reward for the return of 31 diamond rings?
Interesting lady ... I wonder if they're not really hers.
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