This wacky Wednesday started with a computer science worker and a lady who works at a bar. They knew a storm was coming due to the coronavirus. People were talking about mass shutdowns and stay at home orders. I wasn’t aware of what would happen to my work, but I was going to find another work alternative if people stopped going to the bars. What though? It’s a decision I would have to make quickly.
My next passenger was a Canadian health and safety officer. He was visiting on his way to a conference on health and safety. The coronavirus was a hot topic. He was under the impression that we will be locked in our homes for some time.
I wondered whether I should pick up people from the doctors or hospitals. When my next passenger was at a Peace Health clinic. He works as handyman, but was seeing a doctor about his diabetes. A nervous wave came over me. What if this man has been exposed to someone who has the virus? I can’t possibly know this. No one can unless they have the test done. Back then there weren’t enough to go around. However Uber had mentioned that for the first time if one of their drivers gets the virus the driver is entitled to 14 days pay. How do they figure that? It would be based on averages from the past 6 months. Very nice of them, yet I’m not sure what kind of payment I would get? The bloke sat in the front as well. Oh boy don’t breath on me! I thought. Yet if I get sick I can stay home! Eh I remember pneumonia it isn’t fun. I was hospitalised in 2005 for getting pneumonia. My immunity was extremely low at the time and I had moved from the sunny Gold Coast to wintery Armidale. A higher altitude and colder temperatures. My body couldn’t handle it. I later found out I had a deviated septum either from a fight from a bully when I was younger or from a basketball to the face. I got it fixed in 2007. An operation fixed my nose.
My passenger was a mumbler it was hard to understand him and he could see I was nervous. I made my decision I need something else. What though? I dropped my customer off half way to Lynden. After dropping him off I started to head back south for more activity when another person from Peace Health needed a pickup. A stay at home mum with a sick child. The kid and the mother sat in the back. The kid would cough intermittently. Sneezed once. Crap! I’m going to have to clean my interior. With what? People were panic buying. Toilet paper, lysol wipes, and hand sanitizer, were all being ravaged. A trip to the shops turned into frustration.
I managed to find alcohol wipes for wounds. I ripped open several packets and wiped down all the high touch points and where the kid sneezed. Ping! Another passenger. Off I go a marketing political science major. He loved the word bro. The following passengers were a weird couple. One out of the two was married to a gay pornstar in Hollywood. A millionaire. She was a moocher for drugs and was sleeping with the other passenger in the back seat. They needed to go to the bank to get money for drugs. It’s none of my business, yet it was rather odd. The other bloke riding with me had a crazy ex who was trying to kill him and burnt his former house down. Now homeless he was living at the Lighthouse Mission on Holly Street. Homeless people apparently know where all the cocaine is. Not my scene or cuppa tea.
I dropped them off at the bank and then wanted me to stay whilst they got more cash out. Fine. They ended up tipping me well for this. It’s really none of my business what people do. I don’t get involved in their lives.
Last passenger worked at a fancy door place. Northstar Doors. He has delivered fancy doors to some high profile names including Oprah Winfrey and Mark Zuckerberg. They spend hours making the finest frames and doors using the best wood in the northwest. I could sense it’d be a high pressure job. I imagined the stuff ups! “Mate look at the state of this door! It’s two inches too long! Shred the bloody thing!” I thought of a giant paper shredder destroying the mistake. The wood chips were then discarded into a giant bin that read termite food. Yes my imagination entertains me from time to time.
Day done! Four rides Lyft and four trips Uber. Next up a thirsty Thursday.
