Happy as a Clam

Notebook Recollections

West seventh All-Star cab driver, William “Texan” Dubois is a happy man. Ever-wise, calm, alert and ready. Knows who he is and what he is doing.

Tex is happy… I’m pretty sure.

I asked Tex once if he was and he said, “You bet” and then he laughed hard. “I’m 64 years old, still standing, working. My elimination functions are under control. No debts. Nothing to run from.”

OK, good. 

But just what is happy? A blue sky day? A work day off? Wining the Minnesota Lottery? A warm chocolate chip cookie? Hair just cut? A cool shower? A warm shower? Good health?

How about a 10-count “snack pack“ of peanut butter and cheese sandwich crackers on a tough afternoon at work?

Like, what really is happiness?

Ancient people wondered: helping others, lack of worry-fear-consternation. Happy is feeling comfortable. No money problems.

Then there’s the Bible! Absence of sadness. Distance from sin, evil, jealousy. 

Love is kind. What religion should be, could be.

How about bringing happy to others? A happiness delivery.

Tex said Carl is always happy. Never ever had an evil thought in his gray matter. 

In the summer, Carl always had water bowls on the sidewalk for passing dogs on hot days. People got a glass of ice water.

He let a young man of the street stay out of a rainstorm one afternoon in his house. That guy was Tex 10 years ago.

Tex says, “Carl smells happy. Like a bakery-warm glazed donut or a new baby.”

“How do you know new babies?” I asked.

“I’m a livery driver, doctor. In my 30 years of cabbing I’ve seen life unfold in the passenger seat. All of it. Loving, hating. Calm, steamy. The whole kit and caboodle of the life show.”

“Got to be hard to keep your eyes on the road?”

“For sure,” Tex said, “but I’m a professional.”

Note to self: “If one is always asking ‘what is happiness?’ maybe you will never know.“

Then one day last spring, somebody, a patient most likely, dropped off something quite extraordinary. A combination quote from two books: “The Street Bible,” by Rob Lacey, and “The Message” from Eugene Peterson.

“Love never gives up. Cares more for others than for you. Doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut. And doesn’t have a swelled head. Love isn’t always me first. Love doesn’t fly off the handle and keep score. Doesn’t make others grovel. Love never looks back, it just keeps going. Love never dies.”

Just last week, Tex found a perfect, unopened, still plastic-covered 10 pack of peanut butter and cheese crackers that he promptly gave to a little kid passing by on a trike.