Yahneake Sterling, Staff Reporter

Shawn Whyte is an honest taxi driver. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

Taxi men are often frowned upon in our society. They are often labelled dirty and dishonest.

Some are thought of as thieves.

But these sentiments are not necessarily true for all the men who often take people safely to their destinations.

Twenty-five-year-old Shawn Whyte, who plies the Linstead to Spanish Town route, is one exception to the rule. His fourth year in the taxi business, he is described as an honest, trustworthy, and upright man.

Many first-time passengers look out for him a second time because of these qualities.

Formerly a mechanic, Shawn works every day and has many experiences, the most common being passengers who leave their travel bags or cellphones behind.

On one of his many trips just after the Easter holiday, Susanand her seven-year-old son were travelling to Kingston on their way from Guys Hill in St. Catherine. Upon reaching Linstead, she jumped into the first taxi that was heading to Spanish Town, not taking much notice of the car or the driver.

In her hurry to get to Kingston, she hastily exited the taxi forgetting all about their weekend bag that had been stashed away in the trunk of the car.

When she discovered that the bag was left behind, it was too late to turn back as the taxi was surely on its way back to Linstead.

Not recalling much about the taxi or the driver, she thought her precious items were lost to her forever.

Little did she know that Shawn, who had experienced the same thing before, secured her belongings and was waiting for her to come in search of them.

Precious items

The next day, encouraged by her mother, she went in search of the taxi. Later that day, her precious items were safely in her arms.

Shawn says that at least once a week a passenger leaves a bag in his car.

"Plenty of time passengers leave dem phone and mi have it fi weeks and dem get it back," Shawn said.

But he learned the hard way (losing a passenger's item), before he devised a way to protect things left behind in his car.

One regular passenger called Shawn one night after he had dropped him off in Spanish Town. The conversation was about a cellphone that the passenger was convinced had been left in his car. Having already loaded the car with new passengers, Shawn said he asked them to look around to help him find the phone. Their search was fruitless.

"So I guess him figure seh a me tek the phone still and tru dat him stop drive with me," Shawn concludes.

"In another experience, someone left a bag inna di car, and mi nuh know if a mistake, but somebody carry away the bag with their things, so I learn from that so whenever somebody leave a bag, if it's in my car for more than one day, I take it out and leave it at my yard and when the person come mi give them," he continued.

The initiative to return items left in his car to their owners, he said, was instilled in him as a child.

His mother was a higgler, and many times she forgot her goods in a taxi or on the market truck.

KEEP IT SAFE

"We used to go and meet the taxi man or the truck and get it back, so mi have it inna mi that when people leave things inna mi car, mi keep it safe and just give them back," he told Flair.

Being honest he pointed out, can only lead to a better relationship with passengers, who in turn reward him with loyalty.

"Some of them happy and even give me a little thing, (money) and sometimes they will take your number and when them have a charter them call you and give you a work, so it's best to just be honest and give them back dem things," Shawn explained.

Susan says she will take no other taxi as long as he is on the road, as he is the most honest taxi man she had ever met.

While the honest taxi man sees no other way of making living for the moment, he says he will continue to work hard to support his seven-year-old daughter.

"I want her to get a good education and I want to build a house so that one day I can take her and grow her," he said smiling.

yahneake.sterling@gleanerjm.com