It continues to surprise me about the diverse and eclectic mix of people I get in my car. Now my first passenger a truck driver, he was born in Somalia and left his country in 1994 as a refugee with his family. Why? War that’s why! He remembers cars blowing up, people being beaten repeatedly and hardship. The streets of Mogadishu were ravaged by civil war after only 22 years of Somali independence from Italy in 1969. Let’s look at this particular country and how it has evolved over time. Ancient Egypt was a thriving civilization for at least 5,200 years. After unification it still lasted for another 30 centuries. Inscriptions from this magnificent civilization indicate of a far off land called Punt. It was said to have gold, ivory, aromatic resins, ebony, and exotic animals. Many scholars believe that this thriving economic land was Somalia. If true, it has been a topsy turvy land with extreme and drastic political and governmental changes for thousands of years. My passenger thought I was from India first and I smiled and said Australia. Before he moved to the U.S. he thought about Australia, even Scandinavian countries for his family and discovered it was much harder to migrate there than the USA. The U.S. has the infrastructure and the constitution in the immigrants favour. Australia does not, plus Australia is an island. My rider told me some his family is scattered all over the globe from Europe, USA, to Australia. They wanted to escape the civil war and terrorism taking hold of his once beloved country. Ever since 1991, the country has been bombed, exploited and tarnished. Even China overfished their waters, which led to piracy. Many of the fishermen resorted to capturing offshore tankers full of goods coming from Europe or Asia. Most pirates were desperate to feed their families and build up their communities. Some even building schools, so that their children could get an education. Corporations would just pay for the ransom to free their goods and people. I remember reading an article about it and $4 million was dropped for a European shipping container. Not a huge figure for the big businesses out there, but more than enough for the local populace. Piracy became a necessity. My passenger was thankful of being away from the extreme conditions he had to endure, even the U.S., his now home, tried to quash the civil war and actually failed. America barely touches Africa with a 10 foot pole these days. Yes there are bases in Africa including Djibouti, but they are merely protecting their interests. In fact China is looking to Africa for it’s next economic boom. Building infrastructure even in countries like Djibouti because no one else will. I tried to imagine the turmoil my passenger had been through. The only places I have been to that had experienced this modern hardship was Vietnam and Cambodia. I dropped my rider off at his destination and he mentioned that he had returned early to surprise his wife and kids. Wonderful. It’s the little things in life that can mean so much to people.
I drove off extremely humbled by this man’s story and thought I had it bloody good growing up. Worst things in Australia you have to stress about is fire, cyclone, and if that thing sticking out of the crevice is a spider’s leg or something else?
My next passenger was from the northern part of China. A coastal fishing village five hours away from the Great Wall of China. Bellingham reminded her of her home in many ways. She’s currently studying English and wanting to teach future generations the language. I asked of what fish she would get in her village. She looked at me through my review mirror and said. “Most of our fish come from Japan, they exhibited high levels of radiation. We call them Fukushima fish, because they purposely catch the fish with high levels of radiation from the nuclear outfall and sell it to us”. I was shocked To hear this allegation. Bloody cheeky buggers, the people are not at fault for the Chinese government. They just want to live their lives and survive. How disgusting us humans are?
I dropped her off at her apartment and got another ping on Holly Street in Bellingham. I saw a bloke and called out to him “you in need of an uber mate?” “No, I’m waiting for my buddy”. He responded. “Righto”. I rang my passenger to see where he was. He finally appeared. I was parked at an alley way entrance near the bank, which connected to a Carpark and an exit driveway. Then a “Beep!” A truck appeared behind me picking up the bloke I asked prior to my passenger showing up. My passenger gets in and apologises profusely. “Don’t worry I was here first, he can wait a bloody minute”. We drove away from Captain Entitled and proceeded to head north so my passenger could pick up and old van that needed some work. He told me he’s an artist and the first Saturday of every month he has a showing with Hors d’oeuvres. Cheese and what not. He paints and runs his gallery. The Mighty Tiny Gallery is a small room above Holly Street. We somehow got onto the topic of Mr. Donald J. Trump. How his wife was a prossie and that her Einstein visa was a crock. Yeah it really is, but my favourite part of this conversation was back in 2011, Trump wanted to purchase land in a Scottish village by the sea called Menie, for you guessed it a golf course. I like golf, but this area loves the location the way it is. Anyway there’s a snippet on YouTube about it and spoiler alert, the town’s people beat Mr. Trump from the acquisition of the land after five attempts. The residents were being forced to sell their land under a compulsory acquisition scheme. The residents rose up and said not today Trump. Money talks, but whether people want to listen, the BS definitely walks. Watch below. Honestly I feel that everything this man does is only benefiting him.
Fighting Trump 2011.
We discussed archaeology at length also. Including books by James Michener titled Covenant. I personally haven’t read his work, yet it they have good reviews. I love historical novels, but funnily enough I don’t read much anymore. After my masters was completed, my attention span has been terrible.
I dropped the artist at the mechanic and went. Then I made my way south to Bellingham. A publisher graced my car. The name of the publisher is Horton and Mifred, I think. By this time of day my mental capacity has waned and I honestly couldn’t understand him when he said the second word of the publishing company.
Finally I had my sweet elderly lady from Senegal. We discussed climate change at length and the Australian bushfires. Even her sister in the France told her about a tornado that decimated the landscape recently. They apparently don’t get tornadoes at all. Especially in her lifetime anyway. Once I had dropped her off I contemplated the issues our planet has and what would be the best way to transition away from fossil fuels. Unfortunately slowly was my conclusion.
Five trips uber and three rides Lyft. Next is another fruitful Friday!
