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IT'S PAPA!

Another taxi story here and it's one of my best ones. You've gathered by now that most of my colleagues are decades older than me, and when on business trips, taxi drivers often don't believe that we're coworkers. This particular Tokyo taxi driver took it one step further. Upon seeing my grey-haired colleague, he assumed that not only was it my father but also that he required special assistance due to his age. 
He was under the impression that my coworker/Dad was quite elderly, so when we flagged down the taxi, he pulled an emergency manoeuvre by cutting across three lanes of traffic and coming to a screeching halt in order to pick us up. He was so concerned about my coworker that he jumped out of the taxi, screamed out "Papa-san" (Dad) and physically helped him into the car. He also buckled him in, reclined his seat, slid his seat back so he could have more leg room and put a blanket on his legs. The seat was so far back that I had to basically crawl into the back seat, since only the passenger side doors opened. As the ride continued, the taxi driver kept exclaiming "Papa-san!" and attempting to ask questions in broken English. Papa-san didn't understand much of what the taxi driver was saying, so he was half-smiling, half-grimacing and muttering, "He thinks I'm really old, jeez, and I can't understand a bloody thing he is saying". In an effort to move the conversation along, the taxi driver pulled out a point and speak card to ask if we were on a family trip. Thankfully, it was only a 10-minute ride or so, but I was suppressing laughter the entire time. 
As we arrived at our destination, the taxi driver unbuckled Papa-san and basically lifted him out of the taxi. He painstakingly helped him process his credit card, folded his bill for his wallet and sent us on our merry way. Japanese customer service is second to none, but this particular Papa-san treatment was the best I have ever seen!