When Willow first meets the taxi driver Jairo Hernandez she had never ridden in a taxi before much less a complete stranger, in the book she says "I would like to see the number of your taxi license..." Then "The drivers name was Jairo Hernandez, and he had been driving for Mexicano taxi for seven years. I was nervous, but he seemed nervous as well." This shows how little she trusted Jairo at first and that she had never done anything without her parents before. As the car ride ends she leaves the taxi and says "Never let someone tell you that you can't do it." When Willow say this she's actually talking about herself but Jairo takes it to heart and it really causes a domino effect in his life, afterwards Jairo really takes a step back and look at his life. In the text it says, "When he started driving a cab, it was only supposed to be a temporary job. And now years had passed." He realizes that he had never done anything to help himself and his life, he believed Willow to be a " ...blinking warning light. And Jairo paid attention to signs." He then drives straight to Bakersfield College and picks up a brochure to continue his education.
All throughout the book this happens to multiple people around Willow, as they look at there own lives they realize the things that they need to change around the same time that Willow does. This helps Willow gain new close friends and new family as well.
