TALKING CHICKEN: There are a few rides over the years that I wish I had on camera just to hear again what took place and this is definitely one of them. The woman I picked up worked at Cracker Barrell. I never even asked what she did, all that mattered was the large bag or great smelling fried chicken that she was carrying. I told her, "you can't come in here with that much fried chicken when it's almost dinner time-that's my favorite food." That began the laughter and she told me that chicken was her favorite food too and she was eating it when she got home. We had to stop at the McDonalds to get dinner for her Mom, but we discussed our favorite chicken and then she told me her favorite chicken place where it was "uber, uber, fresh." I said, "did you just tell an Uber driver that something is uber, uber fresh?" We were laughing again and a lot. It was a short ride and when we arrived I knew she had two large bags to carry in and a drink holder. I said, "let me help you with those and I'm not even going to ask to hold the bag of chicken." She was now laughing more and I finished her off by saying, "the next time I pick you up, you better come out with a piece of chicken just for me or you're not getting in." She was almost hyperventilating and I was laughing at how she was going to explain to her mom that she just finished work and was laughing so much. I tried to spray Febreze in the car to get rid of the great smell of that chicken for my next riders, which I hated to do. It was the ride of the day.
THE WEDDING OFFICIANT: Sometimes I pick someone up and I know that I was meant to pick up the rider, but sometimes it is really strange. I picked up a woman and a man to take them to their hotel to get their luggage and then to go to the airport. The woman was very outgoing and she said they were from Indiana and I said, "I have some great stories from Indiana." The story I started to tell them was one of my early stories that I rarely talk about. I picked up an Egyptian priest who had just performed a wedding ceremony and was going back to Indiana where he lived. She started laughing and said, "do you want to hear something funny? He's Egyptian and I'm a wedding officiant and I have my own chapel." She started her own business as a legacy to her late husband because she believes that "every woman deserves to be able to afford a beautiful wedding." She charges only $400 for use of the chapel and her services. She said she was, "just a regular girl" and I corrected her and told her, "when they gave out personality, you got three big scoops." Her two children are the exact age of my two oldest children and then I asked her, "do you have a birthday this month?" She said, "August 18th," and I handed her my driver's license for her to see that my birthday is the 19th. When she got out of the car she said to me, "I really needed you today, you're a blessing." What she didn't know was that I needed her that day after a very challenging ride a little earlier. She was inspiring and she thought I was too!
THE PEANUT ROASTER: He was about to turn 61(me too) and he has been in the USA for only four weeks. For forty years he has roasted peanuts in Germany and he's in business with his son who he said," has the brains." I reminded him where his son's brains came from. They have three stores in this country, Miami, San Francisco and Myrtle Beach. A month ago, he could not speak English, but after only four weeks he can speak it well. He had a terrific sense of humor and understood everything I said. He's going to work another 5-6 years and then retire and his son will run the whole operation. I asked him how many different kinds of peanuts there are, but he told me there were too many to give me a number. Whatever you're doing today, this guy is roasting peanuts.
IT ONLY TAKE TWO MINUTES: You can quickly change someone's day as I did on this ride. I was dropping off a couple at a hotel and I noticed right away the woman standing there looking as if I was her driver. I did get a ride on the way on the app, but I had no idea who or where the rider was. When the woman got in I said, "you did a great job being here where I dropped them off-this doesn't happen very often." Her reply was, "I'm your lucky charm." Since she was going less than a mile, I immediately told her, "I'm going to have to give you a gift for that." She was already laughing as I explained about my list of favorite rider comments. As I dropped her off at the restaurant I told her, "you're going to be in a public place, you can't be laughing loudly like this, or everyone will want to read it." Her reply was, "you made my day." Moments later she gave me a $5 tip, but it was a very enjoyable two minutes for both of us.
THE PILOT WHO MOVED THE TRAIN: I have had some unusual rides and this is one I won't forget. It seemed routine, because I was picking up someone in downtown Charleston and I knew it was an 18 minute ride which I guessed would be to the airport. The name I had was unusual and I didn't know if my rider was male of female. I was across a busy street from the condos where the rider was, but there was traffic and I couldn't cross the street. Right across the street were railroad tracks and suddenly a slow moving freight train appeared. I crossed the street and was the third car from the tracks. I texted my rider who suggested I go a little north and around. I did it, but found myself staring once again at the train, which was suddenly going backwards! It just passed the tracks in front of me and I drove through the blinking lights. My passenger was standing at the corner and he got in. I told him that I know pilots are very talented, but I had never seen a pilot who could move a train backwards. It was a great conversation until about 15 minutes into the ride when I got a text from-my rider?? I was almost at the airport when I learned I picked up the wrong person. He didn't check the app on what car was coming since one had already canceled and in my rush to get around the train, I didn't pronounce his name. My real rider was also going to the airport and I had to cancel her ride. My rider in my car had to cancel his ride and he gave me $40(too much) to work it out with Uber. He got to the airport in time to fly his plane and when I tried to give Uber money for the ride, they said they couldn't do it and I should keep it. There's no record of that ride, yet I gave a ride and got a very large tip. If that train didn't come I would not have seen the pilot at that corner and would have picked up the correct rider. I would have made a lot less money and I wouldn't have see a train go backwards so I could pass by.
THE MATCHING COUPLE: My last ride of the day was so much fun. I picked the young couple up from a hotel and they were going to a nice seafood restaurant for dinner. Immediately, I noticed that the woman was wearing a nice, blue and white print dress and it matched the guy's blue and white shirt. I said to the guy, "I 'm guessing matching outfits was not your idea." The woman said that she put on the dress first and he said she knew she put it on. I added, "I'm sure no one in the restaurant will notice." They had been dating only three months. He said, "we work in the same hospital, the same department, and we do the same job." I asked, "you're not going to tell me that you match at work too?" He laughed and said they did. We laughed about a few things and when they got out I said, "don't be self-conscious about your matching outfits, I'm sure no one will realize it." We were all laughing as I left them.
THE MAN I CAN'T BLOG ABOUT: Writing a story about someone you can't talk about is really a challenge. He has visited over a hundred countries (working for our government) and is somewhat retired and one of his favorite movie characters is Jason Bourne from the "Bourne Movies." He told me that the mistake people make in visiting foreign countries is that they spend too much time on visiting the tourist attractions and not on seeing the real country. He said, "what you really want to do is walk down a street and get invited to dinner from a local family." He was fun and interesting to talk to and then he handed me a $500 bill from the South Sudan. It's only worth $3 here, but he said it was the newest country in the world. It was founded ten years ago and has more than 11 million people in it. It is one of 54 independent countries in Africa. Below is the bill and I hang it up in my car and so far riders have enjoyed seeing it. Why can't I blog about him? I really can't tell you.
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