Did you ever wonder what a lawyer looked like when they were eight years old? I may have met a future lawyer at the beginning of the month. I picked up a very nice family in Charleston that is from the state of Washington.. The two parents sat in the back of my vehicle and their two daughters 11 and 8 sat right behind me. (The future lawyer is on the right as you look at the picture) Normally, I would start talking with the parents, but in the back it's a little more difficult.
The eight-year-old almost immediately started asking questions, which is what I usually do. After three or four good questions, I had to ask what her parents did and sure enough, her dad is a lawyer. The eight-year-old did have help from her sister who asked a few questions, but she was the lead interrogator for sure. She was outgoing, obviously bright, and extremely inquisitive.
It was a pleasure driving this family on New Year's Day and they were my ride of the day. However, I missed my chance to put the 8-year-old on the stand and ask her some questions. Whatever she does in the future, I'm sure she has a bright future ahead of her- maybe she'll be the first woman to be elected President of The United States?
HE'S NOT BLUE, HE'S BLEU
He was an interesting early morning ride, so much so, I have no idea what he does for work. Bleu is a unique name and he told me that he was named after blues music. He said, "My dad was rock n' roll till the day he died." His dad sang and played the harmonica. His band used to open up for some big acts like, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bonnie Raitt, and the Allman Brothers. He told me a funny story about growing up and touring with his dad. "I used to sing back-ups with the girls from time to time." When he was 23, he overheard his dad tell someone that his mic was never on and he was so proud of his singing! He wanted to give me something for my museum, so he gave me the chess piece below for my car. He's hanging out with former Presidents George Washington and James Buchanan who is on the coin from Ecuador.
ON THE MILITARY BASE?
I had a delightful two-hour ride to Shaw military base in Sumter, South Carolina. My rider has been in the Air Force for about a year and we spent the whole ride talking. When we got to the base they wouldn't let me drive in, so he had to walk in from the gate.
I entertained him with a bunch of sports stories and he told me two very unique sports stories. He has five brothers and a sister and the nine family members are all big NFL football fans and they all root for different teams. I have never heard anything like that.
The second story was bizarre, but here's the condensed story. A friend's dad had a friend who was at a Detroit Pistons Playoff game with one of his friends who had a last name of Thomas. Isaiah Thomas, was the leader of the Detroit Pistons and the two guys made a bet that if the Pistons won the game, the Thomas guy had to name his child, who was about to be born, Isaiah. The Pistons won and I would have loved to be there when he explained this to his pregnant wife. The baby, Isaiah Thomas, incredibly, made it to the NBA and played for The Boston Celtics. What are the odds of that happening?
SOUTHERN COUSINS
Driving two young women to church on a Sunday morning may not be an ideal situation for a fun ride, but this was one of my favorite rides from the month. Frequently at this hour, people are a little groggy, but they were both wide awake. Their jumbo-sized coffees were pretty full and I can't imagine how they were after they finished them. As you see in the picture below, they both have glasses and big smiles and I thought they were sisters, but they are cousins and now roommates.
They are new to the South, one coming from New York and one from Colorado and we enjoyed talking about both places and adjusting to the South. They both have very outgoing personalities and one is a project engineer with a big company and the other, is in the music industry with social media and marketing currently working with rapper Jack Harlow.
They asked me for a picture of me smiling and as you can see they have much better smiles than I do. I wanted to take their picture, but they wanted me to include Lily, my mannequin, and take a selfie. I'm putting our picture up in my car this week just in case I see them this Sunday going to Church. Having driven many young people, I can tell that these two have great futures ahead of them and they are going to have a lot more fun times together in the Charleston area.
THE ICE SKATERS
The two sisters have been enjoying ice skating for around twenty years. Growing up they played on hockey teams and currently are in a women's travel league. They grew up in Florida and play hockey and also coach hockey together with a girls team of teenagers. They love hockey and practice in an arena that the Florida Panthers use and see many of their games in person. Their enthusiasm for the sport is obvious and they are growing their sport and being great role models for younger girls and doing it together as a team. They say that the secret of success is to find out what you're passionate about and do it and these two young women are succeeding outside their full-time jobs.
A PROUD CUBAN
It's only happened a few times in 6 1/2 years, but I had the same passenger twice in one day. I was very lucky to pick her up and I knew it was her because her first name starts with an X. She told me that she was the class clown in junior high school and she has not lost her sense of humor. When she told me that her husband had died after fourteen years, I told her that I was sorry. She said, "It's okay, I had him killed." She was kidding and her delivery was perfect. She also told me this, "I'm not going to heaven, I'm going to hell." When I asked her why she said that, she replied, "It's warmer there." (She doesn't like the cold weather)
She is very proud to be a conservative Cuban and I asked her why she is conservative. She told me because of what Castro has done to her country. She told me that many people were killed and lost everything and she had family who were jailed. She misses having four seasons in the South and may go back to New York sometime, however, "There are a lot of liberals there and I would have a big job turning them around. I hope to drive her again, she's had a very interesting life.
ON A BOAT FOR 18 YEARS?
My rider used to live in Gabon in West Africa. (One of the wealthiest countries in Africa) He's been a chef most of his life and when he was in Africa he worked as a chef on a job for eighteen years on a boat. I asked him what he liked best about his job and he said, "I enjoyed traveling to different countries." The boat was a scientific boat that did a lot of testing. He did tell me that he doesn't miss being on the water.
When he lived in the Bronx in New York, he lived right near Yankee Stadium. He could look out his living room window and look into Yankee Stadium. I would have enjoyed that, but a boat for eighteen years? I would pass on that, but it did sound like a great adventure.
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