I begun my night with a bloke who wanted grog from Fred Meyer. He asked me to wait, even though I accidentally accepted two pickups at once. Obviously I rang my other passenger who had to wait for this bloody drongo. The rider was totally fine with it and wasn’t in a rush. My initial rider works for T Mobile. A mobile phone company who specialises in mobile phones and other communication devices. The T stands for Trump, OK it actually stands for Telecommunications. They shortened to T. Anyway enough about explaining this brand. My passenger was super thankful for waiting he was only about 5 minutes.
I immediately went to find my next couple of passengers. Two blokes who work at the refinery. They go all over the country repairing cooling towers. One fellow grew up in Kaui and the other Ohio. We discussed both locations at length. Ohio is home of the infamous college team the Buckeyes. My grandparents friends on my father’s side, are from there and love that team. Dropped these two characters off at one of the local watering holes.
Ping! OK who do I have now? Just a social media professional who works at a rope company. He used to manage a team, but this was more up his alley. What does he do day to day? Spends time of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, and anything else that could be used to advertise tree products and rope.
Next was a customer who needed a ride across town. She is a career advisor and assists people find a job.
However the following rider was a retired bloke who used to work in the air force as a coder. He was in charge of coding top secret messages by the US Air Force in Italy back in the 70s and early 80s. He never flew any planes at all, but was part of a team that protected secret information regarding communist Russia, Vietnam, North Korea, and the rest of the USSR. The rider didn’t reveal any secrets to me, but I could only imagine the work he had to be involved in. His final destination was all the way over in Suddenly there’s a Valley.
I made the long drive back to B’ham. A notification for a new popped on the screen. It’s near the uni. Students, what am I going to get? Three boys all studying anthropology. When they sat in my car they were hammered and decided to all do obnoxious ape calls in my car. “Hahooo! Hoo! Ah ah ah!” I felt embarrassed for them. Is this some college ritual? An initiation ritual??? I interrupted their weird ape calls. “So you studying primatology?” I asked. “Yeah we’re studying that in anthropology”, they responded. “Oh righto, don’t do it!” I mused, as I chuckled a little. “Why?” They asked. “Well I’m an archaeologist by trade, and it can be tough to get consistent well paid work here”. I couldn’t help but get annoyed at myself for saying this, but to be honest these kids were not something I want to see working in the industry. Annoying, obnoxious, careless, and just plain irritating.
More students needed rides around town. Then ones who asked me about the word bloody as a swear word in Australia. According to their lecturer, an elderly professor said that word bloody in the UK is as bad as the F word here. I said, “um I think she’s full of it to be honest”. “My passengers were shocked and dismayed by they’re teacher telling porkies, about cuss words. “Sounds like you need a better teacher”. I stated. I am not trained in literature, but I can certainly give people the right bloody information when swearing. Context and use, you name it!
Next passenger was a fella from Vietnam. He agreed that the immigration system needs an overhaul, especially for the ones doing it legally. The short trip to a bar could have lasted hours.
The night continued with two sheilas. One had been to Melbourne and loved it. The other passenger had visited New Zealand. I told both my passengers to venture to both countries. Both have their own beauty for sure.
Then a bloody kiwi stepped into my car after I dropped the ladies off. “What are you doing here?” “Just hanging out bro”. He was with a lady who appeared smitten. This bloke was sloshed, to the point he put in the wrong address. 10 minutes out of the way! We chatted about down under, the Rugby World Cup, and living in America. He was only here temporarily. It seemed like he was just on a temporary visa. I’ll never see him again.
Then we had a Buffalo Wild Wings employee, a student studying psychology. Then Kylie from Target and Kyle from down south. Then a guy who works at FedEx. He told me that most people who work there are salary, so no overtime. They end up being overworked and exploited. The conditions sounded terrible. However his lady friend works at a postal annex, her boss also owns a baseball card shop. You know the trading cards that were popular back in the day? Ahh yes who is interested in that these days? My riders thought it was stupid also. Pokemon on the other hand are extremely popular. Fictitious creatures that hold significant value for children and some adults. If anyone out there who still collects baseball cards please message me and I want to know more. I am just curious.
Two cancellations. Darn it!
A dentist pinged me with two sheilas. I told him, my gums still hurt after my wisdom were removed. He was three sheets to wind and didn’t answer me. His lady friends tried to get him to answer me. No response, he passed out slightly. OK it’s fine. Might ask a professional surgeon one day. One of the lady’s was a lawyer and another works at Lulu Lemon.
Then a cook, another psych student. One fell asleep in my car when I was talking to her. Then Mark who wants to find an island team. Two riders after them. Another cancellation arghh! Then three people who work at Archers Ale. Great pub in Fairdinkumhaven. I had one stop in Fairdinkumhaven and then I ended up in Alger, a new location I hadn’t seen before, although I did not see much due to the dark location. One passenger invited me to their Christmas party. I said “I dunno about that”. Finally after a long bloody drive it was done. My night was over. I punched in my address and went home.
12 Trips Uber and 11 rides Lyft. Big night and another Fruitful friday. Next is another moody monday. There will be three more posts soon.
