DRIVING MARY POPPINS: Ok, she wasn't Mary Poppins, but she did have a great British accent and she was wearing a hat. I picked her and her boyfriend up on one of the plantations and before we drove out of there I had both of them laughing about my British race car driver and when a I taught four British teenagers about the Beatles. This was my favorite ride of the month. She loved the movie "Mary Poppins" and also "Saving Mr. Banks, " and even tried a little to sing the song, "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." Originally from Ireland I believe, they've lived in New York City the past two years. She was delightful and had a wonderful laugh and her boyfriend teased her that it was a bit much. This is one of those rides I would have liked to have a video of to show how how much fun you can have on an Uber ride. And yes, I did call her "Mary" a few times and she enjoyed it.
THE NAVY GUYS IN THE TWILIGHT ZONE: I am pretty sure there is a Twilight Zone episode where military guys or astronauts are on a special mission and then they return and everything has changed. It really happened to my two Navy riders in 2020. On a submarine with 140 others on a special mission they had no contact with the outside world and did not know about the pandemic. When they returned in June they were shocked. One guy said, "It weirded me out. I went to shake hands with someone and they told me that we don't do that anymore. I couldn't believe it, we don't shake hands?" On their first stop in another country they made their own masks out of their own t-shirts and were restricted to the dock area. They seem to be adjusting just fine and are happy to be on land.
THE MYSTERY GUY: There are some people I will remember for a very long time, but it's unusual for that to be someone I gave a very short ride too. He lives in a pretty unique looking house in Murrell's Inlet not too far from where I live. He was very personable and told me that he manages rental properties. We had some discussion about it being a pretty good business to be in and then he said, " I don't want to talk about what I do for a living." I asked, "Are you in the CIA?" He replied, "You would either thank me or curse me." Now I was really curious so I asked, "Can you write it on a piece of paper and I won't look at it until you leave or put it on the app?" He laughed, but he didn't do it. My best guess is that he was involved in politics and I really would have enjoyed talking to him about that. If I see him again, I'll ask him directly, but tell him why I want to know. It was an interesting ride.
THE RETIRED PHOTOGRAPHER: The retired Air Force photographer was voted best military photographer of the year seven times. He told me that it took him about two years to get adjusted to being retired. I asked him a few questions and only a couple minutes before the ride ended I asked the best question, "what do you spend most of your time doing now?" His answer was, ""I do a podcast called "Last Letters." I interview people with a simple question, " If tomorrow was your last day on earth, what would your last letter be?" I told him that I was glad I asked that question and I was looking forward to checking it out. I was laughing because I was interviewing someone who I didn't know was interviewing others.
THE FEMALE MARINER: There are some occupations you never hear about and a mariner is certainly one of them. I picked the woman up at a boating supplies store and brought her to the marina. She was traveling with an older couple and helping them bring their boat from Florida up to Massachusetts. She's a freelancer and helps take care of and transport boats. I asked her what is it that attracts her to the sea and she said, "I like being at sea and seeing something at that moment that no one else is seeing." When she was younger she took a trip around the world and learned a lot about navigating. Unfortunately, my time with her was short, but I did learn some things.
THE POLITICAL SCIENCE MAJOR: When she got in the car she was carrying a big bouquet of flowers. I said, "you didn't have to get that for me." She laughed when I reached out for it, but when she needed to close the door with two hands, she agreed to hand it to me and I said, "I knew they were for me." When she started talking to me I thought she was much older than 22, she was very poised. She had graduated the day before and I got to talk to her about politics. Her Dad works in Washington D.C. as a lobbyist and has been very successful and is pretty well known. She was following in his footsteps. She's more interested in working on policy changes than elections and I'm certain she will do well. She said of politics, "Political Science doesn't have to be one side against the other, we are all Americans." When I dropped her off I got to say hello to her Dad and told him that I loved talking politics with her.
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