WHO IS CARLOS DANGER?: I have spoken with hundreds of people about their unique or unusual name or nickname, but this is the first time I've heard that a name made a big difference in someone's life. The couple in my car had a rough day. The airline lost a piece of luggage and the rental car place closed before they could get there. Almost an hour and a half from visiting his parents, they decided to take an Uber. I told them I would make them forget their day and we were going to enjoy the ride and we definitely did. Dating for two years they had an interesting story on how they met. His college friend gave him the nickname "Carlos Danger" for some reason. His name wasn't Carlos and he did not seem dangerous at all. However, his girlfriend for the past two years said, "When I heard his name was Carlos Danger I was intrigued. I went to a party of mutual friends and walked up to him and said, "You must be Carlos Danger." He explained that they talked very easily with each other and became friends. Several months later she told him that she could not be friends with him since he was already in a relationship. It wasn't until months later when he was out of that relationship, they became friends and more than friends. They were fun to talk with and we did laugh a lot. She told a story about visiting Myrtle Beach as a child and playing putt putt golf which turned into an awful day when her Dad shattered his ankle trying to avoid a ball she hit on the very first hole. She has never played since. I told "Carlos Danger" that a great way to make this day a lot better would be if he was going to propose this weekend, he could do it right here in the car. She seemed pretty enthusiastic about that, so I have a good feeling that many years from now they'll talk about that terrible day in Charleston-until they got into an Uber.(All the best to you both)
THE BACHELORETTE PARTY: I was not at one, but I had four delightful young woman riding with me from Wisconsin and one of them was getting married in a couple weeks. It was late afternoon and they were going back to their rental place to go out that night. They were not used to Uber drivers talking, so they enjoyed the stories I told them. When I asked the bride-to-be a question, she said, "I do." I replied, "You can't say I do to me, you're getting married soon." It was an easy laugh I got, but I know they had fun at the end of the ride. One of the yelled, "We don't want to get out." I said, "I have to go home to my wife and have dinner with her, I can't bring four young women with me." Another one said, "Our last driver was good, but you're the best." They couldn't wait to read my gift-the list of my favorite comments from last year. I gave the bride to be the list and since I am almost married 39 years, I wished her and her husband 39 years of happiness and after that it was up to them. They were the ride of the day.
THE DENTIST WHO CAN REALLY PAINT
He has had a 25 year career as a dentist, having his own practice and he is working for someone else now. The most interesting part of his career may have have been before he became a dentist at the age of 40. He had started college many years ago, but did not finish it. He worked on several different kinds of jobs, from being a tour guide to a painter and many others. He took out his phone and showed me three paintings that really looked like pictures-they were extraordinary. He said, "I sold the last one to my sister for $2,200. Just trying to find his way, he finally decided to go back to school and graduated with a 3.7 average. A professor told him that he could do anything he wanted and suggested he go to dental school which would fit in with his artistic nature. He said it was very hard especially with only one other student around his age. He's been happy with his career and he was fascinating to talk to. When he got out he said to me, "It was a pleasure driving with you, you should charge extra for psychological counseling." I certainly didn't do any counseling, but his life experiences I can share with other people. He'll be the one doing the counseling, just through my mouth. And, he's already had 25 years experience of doing great work in other people's mouth.
THE CEO
Just before the pandemic hit, I had the pleasure of speaking to the President of the American Medical Association.(AMA) I've always regretted that it wasn't a couple months later when I could have asked her about the pandemic at the very beginning. This month I feel I made up for that, because I was able to speak with the CEO of a large, non-profit health organization in Virginia which has been around for 120 years. He's responsible for 7,000 employees and we discussed the challenges he and his staff had the past two years. He was very appreciative of his staff. He insisted that everyone needed to be vaccinated, telling them, "We can't have our patients getting sick from us." He did not lay anyone off during the pandemic and did not fire anyone who refused to get vaccinated. He said, "We lost 200 people who left willingly, but about 90% of them were people who frequently complained about other things." He was very frank saying that they "probably messed up on some things, but overall we did very well." Listening to his perspective was very different than other conversations I've had in my car.
THE FLYING DENTAL HYGENIEST: It was very early and she was very much awake when I drove her to the airport. She's a substitute flight attendant just for the past few months and she's been a dental hygienist for 30 years. She is very outgoing and is a natural dealing with people. She said, "I graduated with 18 others out of a class of 40. It's tough, they are very safety and health conscious which helped me with my background." Her enthusiasm for her new career is very obvious and she's trying to get a permanent position in the near future. She told me that being a flight attendant is her, "final destination." I have no doubt that she's going to be very successful in her new career.
131 MINUTES OF LAUGHTER: I have had a lot of laughs driving complete strangers and I've had a couple rides that I had to wipe tears from eyes from laughing. This is the first time I can say that my stomach hurt from laughing when I was done, unless it was that I was really, really hungry. The couple was going from Myrtle Beach to the Charleston Airport and they were a delight. Dating only four months they seemed like they had been together for years. The ride was over two hours long and we hit it off immediately. It was obvious I was the right person to drive them and I am certain that I set the bar really high for any Uber driver in the future to give them a better ride.
He was from Long Island, NY and with me being from New Jersey, we had our first connection. His family was meeting his girlfriend for the first time and it was no surprise that it went very well. They both live in Colorado where two of our kids live and we're visiting for the first time this summer. He works answering 911 calls and has helped people in the past to re-direct their life which interested me a lot. He also has experience as a chef and baker too and worked in a bed and breakfast. She works in marketing for USA Volleyball, a non-profit organization which was founded in 1928 in New York. The night before they just so happened to eat at The Claw House, our favorite restaurant. I told them that with their background they should open a bed and breakfast in the future and I said it a split second before he was going to say they had already discussed that idea. Then, we really had fun when I suggested they have volleyball rooms or suites with an actual net in the room, maybe over the bed. His girlfriend said, "There would be no spiking." There could be a big mural inside the place showing all the different USA volleyball teams across the country that she has visited and they suggested that the dentist who paints (see story above) could do the painting. He could have a room there and also do check-ups in the bed and breakfast.
I went from one entertaining story to another and we all laughed together. I told them about the guy from Minnesota who wasn't a big on mini-golf, but said, "I've thought my whole life about "stripper mini-golf." Hearing that, the boyfriend suggested that, "The stripper would drive around from hole to hole", but his girlfriend added, "There should be a stripper for each hole." There's no doubt in my mind that this couple has a great future ahead of them and I already told them my wife and I would come out to stay at their bed and breakfast in the future, when they make their dream a reality.
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