With a total of 19 trips it was an extremely busy night. The night started with me turning my app on at Fairdinkumhaven. Nothing in this area for a change, so I made my way to the north. Slowly to the airport. Two flights were coming in. One at 8.30pm and the other at 9.00pm. Nothing pinged me in Bellingham, but then the craziness started. Brenley pinged me passing Chuckanut Brewery. She had her kids with her and they loved my sweets. The banana and strawberry taffy packets apparently had bad jokes on them. We’re talking extremely bad jokes that. I’ll elaborate.
When is the best time to go the beach? Sunday.
Why is the ocean a friendly place to go to? It waves.
Yeah some real gold there. To be honest I was pretty stoked that the kids were excited about the lollies. It certainly made me smile. They even thanked me. It’s different compared to a slightly hammered adult thanking you for treats, but a child is something else. Super polite. Reminded me of simpler times when I didn’t have to pay bills or worry about my next paycheck. All you have to worry about as a child is if you’re going to get a new Transformer any time soon or if Thursday night takeout was going to happen.
Got to the airport and in no time Dolorian. I mean Dolores was waiting somewhere. I rang her and then as she answered her phone I saw her and said there you are! She came over to my car and as i do i went to pick up her case for her and out of nowhere she dropped her rose gold iPhone face down. It wasn’t my fault, but felt bad for her. I’m going to invent a foam cushion for mobile phones so when you drop them they’re cushioned. Instead of you having to buy a new screen protector or screen your phone is still intact. Anyway her phone was scratched, but not deeply. Thank goodness. She was in town for her nephew’s wedding. She mentioned she’d rather be in an exotic location like Australia after spending $2000 to be there. Fair enough that’s a lot of money to fly up from Palm Springs California to Bellingham Washington. She did mention that the hotel and flights were costly. On our way there I told her about all the cool hikes, breweries and places to see while she was in town. She tipped me in cash when I dropped her off. Cheers. I appreciate the cash tips more.
After dropping her off I went back to the airport. A short trip pinged me before the flight came in. A guy called Joey. A Native American from the Makah tribe over near Port Angeles. He was in town for Lummi Boat races. I told him I was an archaeologist. Super excited we discussed the Native American culture and that we have barely scratched the surface in regards to the archaeological evidence in this country. He said if I was ever over his way he’d show me some great Hiking places to go to and that he would introduce me to his tribe.
It dawned on me that most people I have encountered doing Uber wanted to talk to me about archaeology or have wondered if I’ll get back into it. It does seem like a shame after 10 years of working in this industry that I would quit it altogether. It was my passion for so long that one person would ultimately make me bitter towards it. I’m still interested in it, I still want to be apart of it. Still need to publish journal articles which I have always been scared to do. Motivation helps, but the criticism is the thing that scares me the most. In fact it is probably my greatest fear as I write a blog about my findings from an almost anthropological study. People are all the same we all have fears and doubts. We all have stories to tell. I am not sure what the universe has planned for me, but intriguing and unexpected doors are opening. This blog might turn into a book one day or my interview with Edward Jones a financial institution happens in a few weeks. Not to mention I have a face to face discussion with a fellow archaeologist in Bellingham next week. Ubering is paying the bills and opening up a door I’d never thought I’d open. The people you meet are incredible and I think I’d like to keep doing it on the side, only for pure enlightenment. Yes it’s deep, but people are fascinating and it changes your opinion by getting to know people. The one thing that is constant in human development and evolution is communication. The way people communicate is powerful. Words and how you interact with people can have a massive influence on someone. Whether it leads to a tip in your Uber app that’s entirely out of your control.
Something that is in my control is me being me. I’m Australian and I’m proud of it. The more authentic Australian I become the more people love it. Case in point a discussion to my next customer about eating different animals. Including kangaroo. I wanted to back to the airport because I got a short trip, which means you don’t lose your spot in the airport queue. Ellie a Bellinghamster all her life wanted to go to Australia. She wondered about what we ate and what we do over there. I told her we ate our national animals including the kangaroo and the emu. Only because they’re delicious. I said your native animals are delicious too. Including deer, bison, elk and turkey. She wondered how I liked living in the USA and I said your country is beautiful, there are so many wonderous locations here, the people are friendly, and your culture is immeasurable. I did say it’s not perfect, but nowhere is.
Robert was from Vancouver Canada. He was ready to party like it was 1995. Told me how good The Oxford Suites were, which is where I picked him up from. His friend wasn’t talkative at all until I started saying I recently went to Butchart gardens with my grandparents and mother. He launched himself full into the conversation when he found out his mate hadn’t even been to the gardens. He couldn’t believe it. I’m thinking Robert might go and see them now. I showed them my $5 souvenir water bottle which they were chuffed to see.
After dropping them off at a Brewery I realized I wasn’t going to make it back to the airport when Dylan pinged me. He was going home after a physical fight with his buddy. He was worried about his elbows because they had blood on them. I proceeded to give him a couple of tissues to stop the bleeding. He was very thankful. His dog was at home waiting for him a chihuahua peckinese mix. Interesting dog choice I thought. He went on about the dog like he was a person. I understood though because it made me thing of Bowie and how person like he is.
After I dropped him off I looked at the clock and thought there’s a flight coming in soon. Sweet. Went to put petrol in my car at Freddie Meyers. Then a gentleman on the other side of the pump asked me if I could scan my rewards card. I said hang on. Let me deal with mine first then I’ll punch in my number. It was a little strange to be honest, but he forgot his card. I punched in my number and he was ever so thankful to get 0.3c per gallon off.
I drove to another servo to get use the dunny and buy a monster energy drink. As I went to rest my drink down it fell over and spilled on my back seat. The one seat that doesn’t have a car seat cover. Bloody brilliant. I quickly got out and mopped up the mess with my orange scented car wipes.
Got another ping and it wasn’t the airport. I subsequently gave up on the airport after this because I was getting activity everywhere else. Juan. He needed groceries. Okay I’ll drop you off and head into town. By now it was getting close to drunk hour. Or should I say drunk 3 hours.
Gary or as I like to call him the surfy equivalent of Donald Trump aka GAZZA. As in he sounded like Donald Trump if he had a gnarly surfer dude accent. Hilarious. He told me he normally doesn’t give any ratings to Uber drivers, but he said my car was “next level” he was referring to my treats and waters. He was pretty hammered but he proceeded to tell me of two horror Uber stories. Gazza told me he took an Uber pool do a nightclub which had closed down and the driver left him there because the other passenger had to be dropped off. He was in a creepy carpark for 40 minutes until the next driver showed up. Next story was another Uber pool. Where the first customer was dropped off and then it was his turn. His driver could barely speak English and I said neither can I. Anyway his uber driver got lost and he was stuck in Washington DC in this car for 2.5 hours. I laughed hysterically at his situation. It was his voice and the way he described it. Surfer dude Donald Trump.
Had a newly engaged couple in the car. The future wifey was freaked out by Australian spiders. I said they’re fine. You leave them alone they won’t harm you.
Next was Nathan. He was probably one of my best customers. Made me second guess all the 5 star ratings I’ve been giving people. He told me what he was wearing and his exact location. Made it so much easier for me. He said he always tries to make it easier on the driver. I thanked him. As I dropped him off I found a googly eye on the front passenger seat where he was seated. I yelled out hey is this yours? He came back and said that must have had that on my forehead all night. I laughed. Kinda want to know how that eventuated.
Brandon was next he owns a construction company. He struggled to get in and out of my car. I immediately thought to myself I need to get fit again asap.
Anthony was picked up in Fairdinkumhaven. He went to Australia in 1995 and lived on Normar Place where started my archaeological nightmare. Two houses with an abundance and overwhelming amount of cultural material including human remains. He couldn’t believe that whole area where he grew up had so much history.
Quentin Tarantino followed and he was hammered. Okay his name was just Quentin. He was so excited that I was Australian. I pulled out all my party tricks. Told him all about the Land Down Under. He was also my surge pickup for the night. Got an extra $2 for picking him up because it was busy.
Other people I picked up were Vida and Savannah. She loved my accent by the way. He poor bf Adrian was there. Sorry mate. I can’t help my sexy speech impediment.
Finally I got the ping that took me home. Garrison. A 20 minute drive all the way to Lummi. We discussed archaeology and Australia. A bloody 2 minute train went through at 3am in the morning. Come on! I want to go home. 19 trips was tiring.
Till tonight.
