Six degrees of separation. That’s the field of influence everyone has with one another. Everyone has a link between one another in one way shape or form. My first passenger I honestly wouldn’t know from a bar of soap. Although she lives in Bellingham I’ve never seen her in my life. She works as an esthetician. She waxes people for a living from eyebrows, upper lips, and ah other areas. Off to work she went to rip out people’s hair.
Next passenger was a regular a psych student who is almost done with his degree. Good for him. A bloke followed at the dreaded airport. Disease central. Money is money I thought. He’s a web designer and the big talk was about coronavirus. Who it was effecting and how our lives are starting to be impacted. It didn’t stop me from working, at first. It wasn’t in Whatcom County at the time.
After I dropped off the web designer. I picked up two elderly fogeys. Off to American Legion a veteran hall, they were going for bingo night. I couldn’t help but ask them “Are there any WWII veterans there?” “Yes there is! He’s 97 and and in a wheel chair”. I replied with “Excellent, tell him I thank him for his service, what a powerful war and thanks for saving Australia’s ass”. There was no indication of where he fought or what he did. It would be cool to meet him, but he wasn’t there at the time.
The following passenger had a cool name, Atancio. It means “without death”. Awesome. “My name is Paul, which means small. It’s not as cool as your name”. He laughed and told me he works for a roof company. Replacing roofs, refurbishing roofs, and researching roofs. “Everyone needs a roof”. His current project was working on Camano Island at a Police Station.
Now for one of the most intriguing stories I’ve had in a long time. This rider found out I was an Aussie and told me when he was young, an Aussie used to live on his family’s farm in Sumas. Their father had walked out on them and left them in the lurch. He described the adopted Aussie as a former kickboxer who allegedly killed a man in a fight. The mafia put money on him to win and it lead to his opponents death. One kick to the head ended his life. My passenger told me his name Isa. I couldn’t figure out where the man was from and I couldn’t help think maybe he was from Mt Isa. Australias biggest city by area. I did a search of the man and I couldn’t locate this bloke at all. It was unclear if this guy was a fugitive or he served time for manslaughter. His family encountered him at a bar passing through and found out he was quite handy. Anything mechanical was repaired by the possible fugitive. A kind man, rough around the edges, and as ocker Aussie as can be. Possibly a Bogan. Tattoos for days and apparently used as much slang as possible. Some slang I had never even heard of. My rider told me words like “toja”. Perplexed, I had never heard of that. It is apparently another word for a man’s phallus. Eh some people make up words and try and make them famous by using them around other people. One day the man just got up and left. Never to be seen again. No warning. A drifter. Maybe in some weird way he was an angel they needed. Not that I believe in that kind of thing, but a person who wanted to do good for once. What happened to him? Why did he leave? Was the law catching up with him? No one knows.
I plonked my passenger off at his destination and wondered what happened to that bogan. My next rider works as a chef at a restaurant in Bellingham. His dream is to work on a cruise ship traveling the 7 Seas, breathing in the sea air visiting different ports, creating exotic dishes for the travelers. I told him about my new role as a travel consultant and how my aim is to sell as many cruises as possible. News had hit us, that several ships had been quarantined due to the coronavirus. Like most diseases I couldn’t help but wonder if this thing will start off like SARs then the media and populace just forgot about it. At the time no one really knew about the storm that was about to happen.
The next passenger frustrated the hell out of me. She didn’t think my Australian accent was real! The whole ride she and her mate made me feel like a damn fraud, because they watched “Love Island”. Another BS reality show, with a bunch of bogans discussing who’s sleeping with whom? Where the next meal is coming from and how they’re going to win a shitty challenge, so they don’t get booted off. Trashy. Back and forth I told them everything about me. The response was “Oh you just memorised everything”. 🤬 Eventually when we stopped, I showed them my Aussie drivers license and they immediately apologised. “Yeah bugger off”! I said. They laughed and walked away.
My next guests included a Lummi Fishing Store employee, students, a marijuana seller and lady who got in the wrong uber. My final passenger I called because I wanted to go home. It was the owner of the gay nightclub Rumours and the owner of a cocktail The Backdoor. He was desperate for a pickup. He had multiple stops including a stop at Haggen. One of the many local grocery stores in town. He need a few things from this 24 hr shop. I agreed and he said he would tip me well. I mentioned I had a 50% off ticket for a round of drinks at his bar. He knew instantly who gave it to me. “Dakota” “That’s him”. He chuckled and made a funny noise that I couldn’t replicate if I tried. We got into a deep conversation about how people get offended to easily these days. He said “I’m a raging homosexual and can definitely laugh at anything if it seems inappropriate. I don’t take things too seriously”. I knew what he meant and agreed. The man tipped me the same amount as the ride. I was extremely thankful and impressed by his word. I didn’t expect it.
Final stats are 10 trips uber 8 rides Lyft. I went home after that.
