My Favorite Riders of July

                                         

AND THEN THERE'S THAT!

When you have a great, great ride, you don't want it to end.  And then, at the end of the ride, there is just one more thing which puts the icing on the cake.  My rider was from the great state of Kansas. (where I love their wind turbines.)  She had just been in an accident in another Uber who was side swapped.  Everyone seemed to be okay, but she needed another ride which turned into a fifty-nine minute extravaganza.

Having just taught some hair styling, the salon owner entered my car with a suitcase a couple bags and a pole with the above mannequin and a male mannequin head.  My rider's initials are JK and at the end of the ride she thanked me, "For turning her night around." She was my 80th ride in three days and she will be remembered as long as I am driving.

One paragraph cannot explain this successful, entertaining, inspirational woman. She runs at least four businesses, two which are a salon/coffeeshop in the same building with have separate entrances, but are joined together. A boutique and an event center are the other two businesses and last year she did make-up and hair for 190 weddings. She talks fast, works hard, and obviously loves what she does.  She regularly uses social media and does videos on what she's doing which she calls, "Jen Live." She interviewed and recorded me for several minutes about the ride and the things in my car. She has three girls who are growing up with an incredible role model. (One daughter, who was wearing a mask in kindergarten during COVID, also wore lipstick to school.)

When we reached her destination, she handed me the above head, whose name is Lily. She said, "I want you to have this to display in your car." She signed it and wrote, "And then there's that," her favorite saying. We took some pictures together and I walked towards the car holding this head and a guy walking on the sidewalk gave me the strangest look.  I couldn't stop laughing.  Two years ago, another woman from Kansas, pulled out her Super Bowl ring and the picture of that ring has entertained thousands of riders.  Will history repeat itself! Thank you JK., I'll take care of Lily for you.

ATG

The four young women from Kentucky were in town for a bachelorette party. I had a great time entertaining them and after I gave them a trip around the world with my 28 foreign bills, I said, "I even had one woman who recorded me naming all the countries." One woman hilariously said, "I may or may not have done that." I'm sure she did and this woman was the one was talking to the most.  I asked her what her name was and she said, "Autumn, but I go by ATG." When I asked what that meant she said, "Autumn The Great." Her friend said she was too modest to explain, but, "she is so positive, enthusiastic and she always made sure her friends come first.  She is currently working in a kind of "drug prevention" job, but with her attitude and enthusiasm I'm sure she can succeed in anything she wants to do.  After all, her friends call her, ATG, and I bet she has a great future ahead of her.

50 YEARS OF MARRIAGE

My first ride in this short month was a couple from Connecticut and they had just celebrated fifty years of marriage.  I asked them, "What is the secret of a successful marriage?" He answered, "Marrying Mrs. Right. Even when we disagree, she gets around it."  They had both come from difficult childhoods and we discussed how they have changed that for their two kids.  They met at a dance and she told her friend immediately, "I'm going to marry him."  Two minutes after pulling out of their driveway to head to the airport, the wife realized she left her phone in the house.  We turned around and her husband was calm and we just continued to talk sports.  He went to school with Patriot's great coach, Bill Belichick, and he gets together with him and other school mates from time to time. They both have spent their careers in education, it's too bad they aren't teaching marriage to others.

"JUST A PHASE OF LIFE"

I had an interesting ride with a man who moved from California to South Carolina.  He admitted that ten years ago he had a serious problem with liquor which resulted in him going to the emergency room seven times. What changed his life is when he fell in his house after drinking and his brother found him with a bad cut on his face. He decided he had enough and immediately called his insurance company and put himself in a 25 day recovery program.  He's been liquor free for ten years and he bought a local business and is doing very well. He explained that, "Some people call it addiction, but I look at it as just, a phase of life." He's done with that part of his life.

"A DIFFERENT KIND OF THERAPIST"

After getting a business degree in the 1980's, she discovered that she really didn't like the job she had.  She needed some help dealing with losing a member of her family and visited several counselors, but she wasn't happy with the help she received.  This was her motivation to go back to school and become a marriage and family counselor.  When she sees her patients, she gives them her undivided attention and does not take notes.  She explained, "I want them to know, that I have problems just like they do and that they have my full attention." 

She was a delight to speak with and had some observations on being a frequent user of Uber/Lyft.  "The worst drivers are in San Francisco, some of them don't even greet you." She explained that she has a good rating and she should be treated as a good passenger.  She told me of two drivers she's had that were so good, she still knew their first names and one was ten years ago. They made a lasting impression on her."  She made a lasting impression on me and I know she will continue to help people in the mental health field for a long time.

WHAT DOES THE RACE CAR DRIVER BRING TO HIS RACES?  A MANNEQUIN!

My male passenger complimented me on having the mannequin in my car, because, "No one has one in their car."  He told me that his friend is a racecar driver and for every race he brings a mannequin and sets it up in his tent where his team works out of.  During the year, he even changes the mannequin's clothes, although he didn't indicate if it was male or female.  If a guy driving a Porsche can have a mannequin, why not an Uber driver?