THE LUCKY RIDE: After sitting(napping) in a parking lot for an hour in Myrtle Beach I decided to leave and immediately got a short ride from the private airport. Two doctors, also pilots, had flown in and were getting some lunch at a pizzeria. The ride was .6 miles long until they told me their story. They had left North Myrtle in their plane in bad weather to fly to Wilmington, N.C. which is only 60 miles north. They could not land due to the weather so they came back here and were going to Uber home after lunch. I was happy to drive them. They are the ultimate "power couple," and were interesting to speak with. The wife was a Urologist and learned to fly when she was a kid since her parents were both pilots. She said, "it was expected of me." She was extremely knowledgeable about flying and made some professional calls on the way home while also checking with the babysitter for their two young children. The husband, a Pain Management doctor, said "the kids are a handful, but they are so freaking cute." He also converted to Judiasm and being a Red Sox fan he got a kick out of my story about the guy who converted to Judiasm so he could raise his kids as Red Sox fans. It was a great ride in bad weather.
THE HELICOPTER PILOT: I had the privilege of driving a 20-year helicopter pilot for the Navy. He said, "I've spent most of my life helping fight other people's wars." He told me about fighting off pirates near Africa, the Gulf War, and also tours in Iraq. His career began when he was accepted by MIT after being turned down by Clemson, which he still laughs about since MIT is a much more prestigious school. He did get an engineering degree and is currently working as an engineer for a hotel here. We happened to see an orange sky just after sunrise and he told me that, "it means that a storm is coming." He's very proud of his two daughters, one was speaks five languages fluently since she grew up in the Philippines. Both daughters will be following him into the Navy in different capacities. I thanked him for his service and suggested he probably doesn't get thanked much anymore, but he said he does in the South.
THE SERVER: I thought it was going to be a routine ride, picking up a server at a restaurant and taking her home. She thought she was going to work, but she wasn't on the schedule. It was a pretty good ride, but she seemed distracted and not that interested in talking, until she was able to reach her boyfriend.. For some reason she put the call on speaker and it was difficult not to listen, especially since she was crying. It sounded like she cheated on him after drinking too much and he didn't come home the night before. She was begging him to come home so she could talk to him and he was saying he needed time to "reflect". The conversation ended with him saying he would be home when he was ready.
I had had a challenging morning and I knew I had to say something to her. I completed the ride and shut my app off so I didn't get any calls. We talked about ten minutes and she said she did feel a little better and thanked me for being such a "good guy." I told her that she needed to give him time and he was obviously upset about whatever happened. I said that I wouldn't expect him to be home for awhile, but when he did return she should let him talk and have his say. It was important for her to prepare herself mentally and to do some things the next few hours so she would be able to discuss what happened. She hadn't eaten anything, so that was easy. I told her to put on some music she liked, get some fresh air, take a bath, whatever things she can do to cheer herself up. I also told her that after being married for 37 years it's important to understand that the other person in your relationship is not you. They don't necessarily think the way you do, due to their previous experiences and they handle thing differently and don't always agree with you and that's okay.
I think some of my message got through and I hope she was able to handle things later on in the day when his boyfriend returned. She gave me a very generous $20 tip on a $25-$30 ride, hut I felt better the rest of the day after giving some reassuring words to her.
THE NEWLEYWEDS: They got married yesterday and instead of having 250 people at their reception they had a very small group celebrate with them. How they got to be married is a pretty unusual story. He told me, "I knew I was going to marry her when I was 13."(he's 27 now) She is four years older and she was on his sister's baseball team. He was pretty shy, but at one point tried to date her younger sister so he could be around his future wife. She travels a lot and finally agreed to have dinner with him. He said, "our first four dates I had to travel out of state to see her." She was in LA for their second date and he said he'd be there and then drove six hours one way to make it. He was persistent and after 14 years he did get the girl.
ANOTHER UNUSUAL WEDDING STORY: She was 21 years old from Eastern Kentucky with very little dating experience when she first saw him. Actually, she saw his picture in the company newsletter. They were going to work together on a project, but they had never met. She told her parents and college friends that she was going to marry him-before they met. When they were dating two months she said to him, "I don't know what you're doing the rest of your life, but I'm going to marry you." His reply, "I'm going to marry you." Ten years later they have three children. The youngest one is three months old and she calls him their "golden child," because of the sparkle in his eyes.(like his Dad) It sounds like she has a wonderful life and it all started with a picture in a newsletter.
THE YOUNG DYNAMO: I met another young person with a strong work ethic and a great attitude. She is from the mid-west and she lives in the Charleston area. Her Mom is a nurse who works in the homes of many older people. My rider decided to be a "Nurse's Assistant", separate from her Mom's business. She had taken care of her grandmother as she went through Alzheimer's disease. Since most aide's for the elderly work in the morning and evening, she decided to focus on the middle part of the day and help people do things they have trouble doing. She usually spends 5-6 hours with them and tries to get them active and outside when possible. I thought she had just graduated college, but she's only 19 and is putting off college for a little while. I'm not sure she's going to make it there-she charges $50 an hour and is very busy and apparently somehow has a house. I think she has quite a future.
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