MY MOST MEMORABLE RIDERS IN FEBRUARY

 

A CHANGED MAN

The best ride of the month turned out to be a welder/blacksmith in his mid thirties.  Living in Georgia in his late twenties he said, "I was a category five screw-up."  He was hanging around with the wrong crowd, hooked on meth and watching much older people around him barely surviving.  He explained, "No one thought I would make it to 30, I had to change my life." Quitting meth cold turkey, his plan was to walk for four days to Charleston, South Carolina and start over.

On the second day, he passed out and was taken to the hospital. When he was released he was able to somehow get to Charleston and eventually changed his life.  He has marketable skills now and he told me, "I'd like to start my own business one day and earn people's trust back." With a steady job and staying away from drugs he is on his way.  He inspired me and I'll be telling his story to others who need to hear it. I'm rooting for him.

JUST CALL HER O.G.

I had a delightful conversation with a woman who works in two different hotels as a manager and has her own catering business. We were talking about children and grandchildren and she told me, "My grandchildren can do whatever they want as long as they don't burn my house down."

She told me that her grandchildren don't call her grandma, but O.G. which means "original grannie." She is certainly an original and we had some good laughs together. She told me her sister was making a shirt for her that says, "O. G." and I suggested to her to create an online store with O. G. clothing.  She loved the idea and I'm pretty sure she's going to be thinking about that all day long.  So, if you see some clothing that says, "O. G.," it may not be for "Original Gangster" which is a thing, it may be my passenger using my idea.

TOURING THE USA

Two British guys who do "content" and put it on Tik Tok, had a great ride with me. They started filming in my car with one of them saying, "We're in the coolest Uber ever!" They loved the fact that my favorite bill was from the UK with Queen Elizabeth in the middle of my car, with 46 other bills displayed.  They have visited "The States" four times and have been to twenty-six different states filming content and traveling in an RV. 

Their names are Josh & Jase and I looked them up on Tik Tok.  They have a very big following and are very successful.  We had a relatively short ride.  I would have liked to get some of their stories from them, but I did share some of  my British stories with them. My wife and I watched them on Tik Tok and she said, "They are very funny."  No sign yet of the video they took in my car, but I think they got another follower.

HE PLAYED WITH PATRICK EWING

He may have had the funniest entrance to my car ever.  As he got in I was telling him about my mannequin head and that he needed to give the door a push.  It was early in the morning and he thought I said, "Push the mannequin head." He gave a big push to Lily's face and after I started laughing he said, "I thought if I pushed it something would happen." 

We had the best ride of the day when he told me that he was a very good basketball player in high school growing up in New York.  "In the offseason I played with Patrick Ewing, John Starks and Anthony Mason." (Who played for my team, The New York Knicks) He became good friends with them and when he moved to the South to help his sick mom, they used to leave tickets for him when they played in Charlotte.

"I had a great vertical leap and dunked a lot. Ewing dunked a lot, but he didn't do it much in the pros and I asked him why. He said he was saving his knees because he wanted a long career." He got his long career and my passenger has some great memories of playing with professional athletes when he was still in high school.

GOING ON A FIRST DATE

I picked him up and we took an hour ride to pick up his friend. When I asked them how long they had been dating, she said, "Oh, we're not together, this isn't a date." He said, "We're not yet, but this is a date." They got along very well and talked like they were together.  I think he was 21 and she may have been a couple years younger.  The movie they were going to see was 40 minutes away, so I spent a good period of time with them. She seemed to agree that it was their first date and he seemed a little nervous. She asked me for advice on being married forty years and they both liked my answers.  I think they are a good match and they may be dating for awhile, it was fun driving them.

THE YOUNG REALTOR

I had a great conversation with him about his first sale.  The house cost $350,000 and he was happy when he sold it. When he got the $10,000 check, that's when he really got excited.  "I like to live in the moment and so I sat in the house and let it all sink in."  I enjoyed his excitement and enthusiasm about his sale and I'm sure he's going to be soaking up many more moments in the future as he sells more houses.

HE NEEDS SOME HELP

Sometimes I really feel badly for my passenger and this young man definitely got my sympathy.  Living with his girlfriend and her parents, he is overwhelmed.  Heading home from work at the very beginning of his work day, he was stressed out and exhausted from being at home.  All three of the adults in the house are under medication for mental health issues. He's running the house and trying to help a teenager cope in the house and he takes care of thirty pets in the house. 

He's mature for his age, about 21, but said he has no one to help him or talk to. There was only so much I could do or say, since it was a short ride and he was physically and mentally wiped out. I'm hoping he can figure out a solution to his problem.