It happens all the time – almost.

I mean, in the rush to get out of a taxi after paying the fare, thoughtlessly you leave something in the cab – probably a box or bag of valuables or some personal effects or property.

And then you suddenly remember when the taxi is gone and out of sight without knowing the name of the taxi or remembering even its color.

And you feel terribly frustrated and helpless – and stupid.

But there are the proverbial good Samaritans among taxi drivers who would go out of their way to trace the whereabouts of his passenger who must have left the bag unknowingly.

When they fail to locate the owner they report to the nearest police station that in turn search for the neglectful owner.

Happily very often the search is successful.

But that happens only if the driver is an honest person, and not a few of them are not, if I may say so.

Sometime ago, coming home from a short trip abroad, I hailed a passing taxi at the airport and placed carefully in the front seat an antique jar for Monina while my other luggages were placed in the back compartment by the driver.

Upon reaching home at past midnight, and after paying my fare, the driver opened the trunk and handed to me my bag. Intentionally or not, he overlooked my antique jar beside him.

I cursed him first thing in the morning but what else could I do?

I also cursed my own affliction.

But it appears all this happens everywhere – and how!

In a recent foreign news report, a Boston taxi driver was said to be facing suspension of his driver’s license for “unwittingly driving off with a sleeping 7-year-old girl in the back of his cab.

According to the driver, he picked up his passengers – several adults and a child – at the Logan International Airport and brought them to their home in the city’s Mattapan neighborhood.

He related that after receiving the fare, he left but soon after he got a call from another driver telling him there was a child in his cab. And true enough, when he looked back the little girl was there, sleeping.

He drove the child back to her parents and they thanked him for his gesture.

But the Boston police were not happy about it: The police cited the taxi driver for violating “rules requiring drivers to inspect their cabs for forgotten items after dropping off a fare.”

The police said taxi drivers are required to check their cabs thoroughly after every fare to look for any items left behind, and “that include young children.”

It’s time we have that kind of rule here based on everyday experience for the benefit of the taxi-riding public.

(zhern_218@yahoo.com)