As the couple got in the car I asked, "how are you tonight?" The man, who turned out to be a retired cop from New York, said, "good, I haven't had the urge or desire to kill anyone today?"(joking) Laughing, I said, "is it urge or desire?" Him: "That's open to interpretation."
When I told the 16 year old, unmasked male that we're really not supposed to drive 16-year-olds, he reassured me by saying, "I'm vaccinated and I became a man when I was 13." (I don't think he was talking about his Bar-Mitzvah)
The young male got in my car and said, "I woke up this morning and my voice is deeper than when I went to sleep, how long is puberty?" (6-12 months maybe-he was 17)
"I was named after a swimsuit company. My mom needed a "J" name and saw Jantzen on the wall of a store."
Young man: "My Christmas gift this year was not going to jail."
Mom: "It took me three nights to wrap all the presents and my three kids unwrapped them in 15 minutes."
The 21-year old male said, "I think I've read thousands of books. In high school I read 200 hundred books in one year and they put my picture up on the wall for reading the most books in a year."
Picking up the young couple at the flea market next to the cemetery he said, "we like to text the driver we're in the cemetery to scare them."
"My friend (50 years old) is the smartest person I've ever met and he loves to read. For years we asked him if he could read "War and Peace" in one day. Last Saturday, he read the 1,200 pages and finished by 4 pm. He said it was slow reading."
Young couple in car and she said, "We met in high school. He was a bad boy then, not like he is now. (3 years ago) The first time I saw him he walked into the classroom where we had been split up in partners and he said, "So no one wants to be my partner, because I'm ugly," and then he flipped over a desk."
The woman got in my car carrying a small, red bag. Me: "A gift for me, you really didn't have to." She: I hope you like earrings." Me: "As long as they are not on me. Actually, I have a gift for you."
I asked the woman from Philadelphia, "do you live in the city or a suburb?" Her 7-year old son said, "America."
Female: "I've been in the Army reserves for ten years. I'm a Loadmaster, I coordinate and make sure everything fits into the planes before takeoff."(also occasionally an Uber driver)
I told the couple I was going to give them a gift, but it's not paying for their breakfast. He said, "that would have been a great gift."
Male: "I'm a great conversationalist, but today, I'm off my game."
I asked the woman who is new in the South, "have you gotten used to how friendly people are here?" She: "I may never get used to how friendly they are."
"I wasn't happy with my job so I started an oyster farm. We're just getting started. I grow and sell oysters and sell about 3,000 a week."
The Russian woman and her daughter got in my car and I said, "would you like to hear a funny story about one of my Russian riders?" She said politely, "no, not really." (first time it's happened. It was a very quiet ride, but she gave me a $6 tip)
Experienced electrician: "When I wake up at 3 am and need to clear my head, I play classical piano."
"My Dad always told me that old age and treachery will always outlast youth and exuberance."
The five year Marine wearing a mask, said, "my experience in the Marines has been a roller coaster of emotions." Me: "emissions?" Him: "I wish it was five years of missions."
"On my flight home a very large woman sat next to me and spilled her coke all over me. They didn't have much to dry me off so I sat all wet for three hours.
I asked the young man if he was able to sleep well on the Greyhound from Los Angeles to Charleston. He said, " yeah-no, not really."
When I told him about the woman who said on a date in her second month, "I don't know what you're doing the rest of your life, but I'm going to marry you," he quickly replied, "if she said that to me, I'd run."
The southern male agreed it is difficult adjusting to the South coming from the North: "you have to adjust to people waving 5 fingers at you instead of one."
Arriving from New York City to the Charleston airport, he said, "I love the air here. It smells better here."
Young man with his girlfriend next to him, "she's the love of my life and I wouldn't trade her for anyone."
The woman was on a business call for 100% of the 25 minute trip from the airport and I had no conversation with her. Taking her luggage out I told her I was giving her my list of favorite rider comments for 2020. She said, "I hope I made the list for 2021."
Telling the couple about the young woman who had a corn tattoo above her knee because she loved corny jokes, he said, "I love chicken parmesan, but I'm not putting it on my knee."
Another woman later added, "if it's chicken parm, it should be on the arm."
Young male rider said to me, "short trip, big tip." I'm adding now, "got zip, still a trip."
"My window washing business really took off when I was eating at a Chick-Fil-A and the manager set me up to do windows at three stores."
Woman raised and living in the south: "it should be cold in the winter, I wish it was 40 below zero."
Woman: "I was in Columbia, South America when I accidentally got into a cab that was a fake cab-I was a little kidnapped."
"My company owns three drones. They go for about $2,500 each."
"Most recycling these days is not being recycled because the costs of a container to send out to China has increased from a couple thousand dollars to around twenty thousand dollars."
Woman from New York living in the south: "I'm usually pretty patient down here, but every once in awhile my "inner New Yorker" comes out."
Male: "I didn't ask my wife out on a first date. She was my bartender and one night after we finished bartending at different places, she called me at 3:30 am and asked if I wanted to come over and swim."
Young girl: "My car was totaled by a drunk driver while it sat in a friend's driveway. The car was hit so hard it sent the car all the way across the street. Fortunately, I was in the house."
Two couples visiting Charleston on business were out on the water with other business associates and had a horrible experience. Woman: "I saw it. Something hit the second mate and knocked him overboard. The Coast Guard found him twenty minutes later but it was too late."
SOME UBER STORIES:
Woman: "I think drivers have canceled on me because I'm not an airport ride and just going to work."
Me: "how has your experience been with the Uber and Lyft drivers here?" She: "The drivers have been great."
When I arrived before 6 am in Downtown Charleston, my rider was outside in the middle of some serious kissing. He explained, "she got back out of her Uber(in front of me) and she started smooching and I just rolled with it."
She: "I just got into another Uber and when I realized I forgot my mask I went inside to get it. The driver canceled and drove away, not realizing I had my things in the car. He came right back and I asked him why he canceled, but he didn't answer."
She: "I was in a Lyft in Philadelphia with a co-worker and the male driver started talking about rape. He then told us that Nicole Simpson had come to him in a dream to tell him that OJ Simpson was innocent."
She: "Early in the year Uber's prices were too high so I switched to Lyft, but now I'm back to Uber."
"I usually text the driver to go slow on my street because of the road conditions, because some of them like to speed."
"I was downtown at night and a got an Uber and when I went to get in the car the woman asked me if she could cancel because she wanted to stay downtown. It was a long ride."
"I'm late for work, because I just had three drivers cancel on me."
Worst driver story I've ever heard from my female rider: "This summer I had an Uber driver coming to pick me up and he texted me that he had a flat and that I should cancel the ride. I told him that he needed to cancel the ride, but he refused and said that I needed to. My friend realized that he was only a few minutes away, so we got in her car and found it at a bar. I called the police and explained to the cop what happened. The driver ran out of the bar so fast he didn't pay his bill and told me that he would cancel the ride and drive me anywhere if I did not file a report. I told him that he was canceling the ride and I was filing a report. I went home and saw the driver go past my house twice and I called the police again. I filed a report and the driver canceled the ride six hours later. Uber did nothing about it and his name came up twice when I ordered a ride and I canceled him."
MORE COMMENTS FROM RIDERS:
She said, "my brother named me Lexus, when my Mom wanted to name me George after my uncle. I don't know how he came up with Lexus."
Young woman: "My ride or die is chicken." (she loves it)
Young woman who grew up in the south: "When I worked in New Jersey they were giving me lip for saying mam and sir. They're not that nice up there."
After working for ten years, the Army reserve guy said, "I didn't want to work a living, so I got back into the Army."
He said, "Some of the most well-rounded people are military leaders."
Young UPS driver: "I've lost 30 pounds in the first three months doing this."
Woman from New York working in the South: "The customer service here just isn't the same."
Working in a factory with 300 employees, he suggested that they split the shares of stock that are given out when they their bonus, with everyone. He was told, "we don't do things like that here."
Male consultant: "When they stopped listening to my ideas, I retired."
"I live on an island in Greece and people are very laid back there like they are in the south."
Young male: "I love living in Columbia, South America, because people are very kind and happy. I like coming to Charleston, because it's real American life."
The impatient woman from Texas who wants to live here, told me to pull into the parking lot and not wait for the woman pulling out. She said, "she doesn't know how to drive." Me: "it's a much slower pace here."
Military guy said, "One of my favorite places I've visited was Bosnia."
Male bartender in his early 30's: he said, "My seven year old daughter is the best thing I've ever done."
The couple said they were both forgetful. "We couldn't remember when our first date was, so we made up a date and we're going with that as our anniversary."
The female escort early in the morning said, "I've met some good people and some bad people." She then fell asleep leaning forward.
"A few years ago, we rented a Ford Transit that had a converted bed and we drover around California for eight days in it."
Male: "I work for Public Works in a small town. Right now, there are six of us putting up all the decorations in our town and it takes two weeks. I used to think that elves did it, but it's really us."
32 year old male: "My dream is to live in Japan. I'm fascinated with their culture
The older man was really into a game on his phone called Trivia Crack. "I've submitted over 700 questions to them."
Male: "I literally grew up in Mohave Desert in California and then moved to Phoenix, Arizona." Me: "So, you just move from one hot place to another?"
Me: "I'm from New Jersey." Her: "You're so lucky."
The male freshman from the Citadel said, "this is one of the toughest military schools in the country."
Young male rider said to me, "short trip, big tip." I'm adding now, "got zip, no shit, still a trip."
After telling the Red Sox fan my great story of the Red Sox fan who put the newspaper saying, "Red Sox are World Champs" under his grandfather's arm in the casket, my rider said, "I would have paid to be at that funeral."
Young male: "I don't ever talk that much." (he talked almost the whole trip while Iistened)
The young woman said to me as she got out, "thanks for making the ride better."
Male: "I worked on a cruise ship for 11 years. We had 6,000 passengers and 2,500 staff."
The GM at a local sub place, "I gave everyone raises recently, they deserved it."
"My friend's husband is a jeweler and he's worked on Tom Brady's rings."
"I hate all the food down here in the south, I mainly eat sushi and salad."
"A friend of mine lost $7,000 when the Giants beat the undefeated Patriots in the Super Bowl."
After telling the woman that I'm headed home to eat my favorite meal, a big roaster chicken, she said, "I'm excited you're going to eat that chicken."
Young woman from New York, "I miss home, other than the weather just about everything-my family, friends and boyfriend." Me: "I'm sure your boyfriend would like to have heard where he ranked."
"My colleague in San Francisco pays $3,400 a month for a tiny apartment. It's really a dirty city."
Female cement truck driver: "I got tired of being inside four walls. I love to drive."
She said, "New York is fantastic-every block is vibrant."
"I'm a sports tourism guy. I help out with events in the area."
The manager said, "In this day and age there are no real positions at work, you just do everything."
"You were awesome-best Uber ride I've ever had."
"I've never gotten into a car like this before."
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