I was trying to pick my top five rides of the year and it was impossible to do. In 2024 I gave around 2,300 rides and in 2025 I gave over 1,300 rides. Here is a short summary of ten incredible rides and I broke them into three categories: most unique, funniest, and inspiring.
MOST UNIQUE:
A SIMPLER TIME
The two hour ride to Savannah in April was fascinating and shocking. The couple told me their story which was worthy of a book. After college five of his friends searched the West for a lot of land that they could their own houses. They wound up on a dirt road in British Columbia and hour an a half from a gas station. The wife said to me, "When we got electricity after 13 years, it was a hallelujah moment, I was a happy woman." They built their own house and lived their forty years before recently moving to the city. What an interesting life they have had, so different than just about everyone. They were very generous to share it with me.
THE GOOD KARMA GIRL
What happened in my car that morning in March will never happen again. A woman in her late twenties(?) had no sleep and she looked it. At 8 am. I gave her a twenty-five minute ride and she completely changed in my car and I don't mean her clothes. She was inspired by the car and after 10-15 minutes she was smiling and we had an incredible conversation. She lost her mom three years ago and she's been carrying and wearing it. She wanted me to change the Karma and give the ring to a Leo since her and her mom were also Leo's. I was too and I took her picture with the ring and it hangs in my car with the words "Good Karma" under it. I gave it the daughter of another female rider in the same town who was serving our country in the Army. Their picture hangs in my car too. The "Good Karma Girl" has inspired others through me-it was an unforgettable experience.
FUNNIEST RIDES
KASSI-ISMS FROM CALIFORNIA
The woman in her twenties was in Charleston, S.C. with two friends for a baccalaureate party in March and she put on a hilarious performance. Her comment about grabbing the Preparation H instead of toothpaste made my list of top comments of the year. Her friend said that she once asked, "What meat is on a veggie sub?" In a short period of time she had me laughing a lot. The last time she was in South Carolina she went to a basketball game and was rooting for the South Carolina Gamecocks and she bought a hat that said, "Go C O C K S." That was fine in South Carolina, but when she returned to California, she said people thought, "I was a whore." She's been like this her whole life and I can't imagine what it is like having her as a friend, but this was a lot of fun.
HOW MANY JP'S ARE THERE?
This ride in September had it all including two of the top comments of the year, a short ride and then a long one to the airport, a cash tip, several Mexican bills and a picture of his family visiting Mexico which is pictured below. This truck driver from Louisiana regularly puts orange juice in some of his cereal and has a whole bunch of family who go by the name of JP, their initials. He told me that when you call out JP at a family event, "You don't know who you're going to get." A hard-working guy with a beautiful family and a very good sense of humor.
MY MOST FREQUENT RIDERS
Near the end of April just before leaving Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, I had one final ride with Paul and Susan who had become friends over the past three years. Paul has been hilarious throughout, but this ride was so funny that Susan kept yelling out, "My stomach hurts." He has called my car an, "Old jalopy," told me I was pushing the weight in my vehicle because of my weight, and he said that, "It's Un-American not to have a TV, even people in third world countries do." For the third year in a row he made my list of top comments for the year claiming that my wife and I were like criminals and that's why we have to move every year. Their picture hangs in my car and it was always an adventure driving them and they will be missed.
HONORABLE MENTION: My family chicken ride taking my daughter and son-in-law to the airport was hilarious, especially since they gave me a rotisserie chicken.
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