'Guardian angel' cabbie tracks down visitor to return wallet
December 24, 2007
BY MONIFA THOMAS Staff Reporter
mjthomas@suntimes.com
It's a good thing Yellow Cab driver Melvin Stewart needed directions to take two men from O'Hare Airport to a magazine publisher's office Dec. 14.
Stewart had to call the Carol Stream offices of Christianity Today International to figure out the best way to get there. Two hours later, he called again -- this time, to track down Missouri businessman Terry Brown, who'd left his wallet in Stewart's cab.
Stewart recognized Brown, of Branson, Mo., from his driver's license photo after Stewart's next passenger found the wallet in the back seat.
Brown hadn't noticed his wallet missing. Because his license was his only form of photo identification, he wouldn't have been able to board his flight home later that day.
"I would have showed up at O'Hare and then gone, 'Uh-oh. I have no wallet,'" Brown said Saturday.
Brown, 52, arranged for Stewart to drive him back to O'Hare. After Stewart handed him the wallet, Brown gave him $30 as a thank you.
"I was just so grateful," Brown said, calling Stewart his "guardian angel."
"It was like an early Christmas present for me."
But Stewart, 61, downplayed his good deed.
"My way of looking at it is, when you do something that's good, you're not going to get a reward for it. But it leaves you feeling unstressed," he said.
"It's best to treat every customer the way you'd like them to treat your mother."
It's not the first time Stewart has come to the rescue of one of his passengers. Ten years ago, on Christmas Eve, Stewart found and returned a woman's wallet that had $600 in it, he said.
When the woman offered him a reward, Stewart told her: "All I want you to do is have a Merry Christmas."
Re: Re: "All I want you to do is have a Merry Christmas."
i know melvin too. good guy. i recognize the quote about treating every passenger like they're your mother. it is hard sometimes to treat puking drunks like they are your puking drunk mother, but it's a fun experiment to try.
