A Philadelphia cabbie got quite the holiday tip for a $4 ride — a nearly $1,000 tip.
Freedom Taxi driver Mr. Oumar Maiga was working his usual night shift on Friday, Dec. 12, into Saturday, Dec. 13, when a rider flagged him down at 2nd and Market streets in Old City around 1 a.m., Freedom Taxi wrote on its blog Wednesday.
During the less than one-mile-long trip that took only a little more than one minute, the mystery man asked how Maiga’s night was going.
“It was a short ride, but the guy wanted to be extremely generous to the driver,” said Freedom Taxi owner Everett Abitbol.
The mystery man left the West African immigrant a $989.98 tip for the $4.31 fare to Columbus Boulevard near the Holiday Inn Express.
Maiga, a married father of three, immediately noticed the mega tip and stopped the passenger.
“He said, ‘I think you just made an accident,’” said Abitbol.
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"I said, 'you see this, it's almost a thousand dollars including the tip,' Maiga told NBC10.
“The passenger said, ‘No, I told you I was going to take care of you. I know what I did,’" said Abitbol.
The passenger then wished Maiga happy holidays and went off into the night.
Maiga's boss said they released the story about the big tip after giving the card company 30 days to clear the payment which didn't include the cardholder's name.
“That was kind of the reason we posted this on social media. We would love to find out who this guy is and at least send him a thank you or see what we can do from our company. He really made this guy’s year.”
Abitbol said that regular customers — especially those needing disability-accessible cabs — often tip drivers around the holidays, but this particular tip went above and beyond.
“This couldn’t have happened to a better person," Abitbol said of Maiga. "He’s always polite, he’s always cordial. There are some people you meet that always have a smile on his face, and he’s just one of those guys.”
Beside the smile, maybe it was the condition of Maiga’s cab that sparked the nearly $1,000 tip.
Besides talking about how the night was going, the passenger also said Maiga’s cab smelled clean, said Abitbol.
The big tip didn’t change Maiga’s work habits, said his boss. Maiga, one of the first drivers to join Freedom Taxi in 2011, returned to the overnight shift Wednesday night.
He also planned to donate part of his huge tip to a charity that helps in his native Africa.
"You do something I'm never going to forget in my life, God bless you," said Maiga.
