Muhammad Faridi (MF) & Mohammad Ashraf Faridi (MAF)

Muhammad Faridi (MF): You used to go to work and then come back home around 2am. So in the morning you used to send me to go clean your car. I would vacuum, take out the mats, smack them against the pole to get the dust out. And then I was maybe 14, 15, and I was doing that and a kid from the neighborhood just began making fun of me. ’Hey! Cab boy! Taxi boy!’ That’s one of those experiences that made me embarrassed.

Mohammad Ashraf Faridi (MAF): At that time my financial position was no good. 

MF: After your 18th birthday you can get your taxi license. 

MAF: So you said, ’I want to help you.’

MF: We drove together for a couple of days.

MAF: Right.

MF: You showed me the streets, bridges, everything. And I started college, and went to law school, and I was still working part-time, driving. And then I began working for a federal district court judge. The judge at that time was in his late 80s. So I used to help him carry his briefcase down. And one day, the judge called for a car service, and you came to pick him up.

MAF: Yeah.

MF: I put the briefcase in the car. We waved at each other. And you drove the judge home. The next day the judge and me, we were having lunch. I said, ’The driver who picked you up yesterday was my father.’ The judge was very upset at me that I didn’t introduce him to you. I, at that point, never really liked talking about my family. We don’t come from Park Avenue and I was embarrassed that you drove a taxicab. But not anymore. As I grew older, I’m proud. You know, I think you’ve done a great job.

MAF: The bottom line is this: I got everything in my life — my friends, my family. I am happy.

MF: And in my life if I can emulate that by a fraction I would think that I’ve lived a good life.