On Sunday night, the 17th, I drove locally again but the mood of the riders wasn't the same. There was more negativity in the air. One of my friends pointed out that a lot of the people drinking on a Sunday night are probably the one's who don't have a job to go to the next day. I think she was right. There weren't groups of friends laughing together or joking about my soccer mom car. Business was slower and I felt a little less safe because I was going to more obscure parts of town.
I had one rider who was in a semi-normal neighborhood. It was older single story apartments that looked like somewhere a student would live. I waited and waited for some guy named Kevin. Suddenly a twenty-something guy got in my car. I said, "Kevin?" and he said, "Yep." He was nice and polite but looked like somebody who must have frustrated parents because of his lack of maturity and responsibility.
Kevin asked to use my charger which is how my phone hooks to my Apple CarPlay and gives me directions. Normally that would have been a hard no, but I knew the area so I let him. His girlfriend kept calling and ringing through my whole car. They were arguing about him going to Kevin's house. Wait? I thought HE was Kevin. At one point Kevin called on speakerphone and asked where he was and he said he was in the Lyft and on his way. Kevin asked, "Is the driver hot?" and the non-Kevin rider said, "Yes, she's very good looking." Which gave me a good laugh. What a nice kid in an awkward moment. The girlfriend drama continued on the phone the whole way. I dropped him off and the real Kevin met him in the front yard.
I drove away in the dark and before I turned the corner I got a call from the real Kevin. He was the one who actually booked the ride. He said, "Hey, did my friend leave something in your car?" I pulled over and looked from my seat and told him he didn't. He said, "Are you sure he didn't leave something?" I replied, "What was it?" because who asks something so vague? Was it a phone? A wallet? A hat? He said, "Oh, I don't know. He just had a feeling he left something." I told him there was nothing and then I drove away and pulled over somewhere safe. Kevin's friend left his crack pipe in my car. Kevin was his dealer.
So what do you do with a crack pipe when you don't smoke crack? It didn't seem like a good time to start doing drugs, so I looked up the nearest police station and it was seven miles away. I figured they would get a good laugh out of me turning it in. Seven miles was too far to drive with that thing on St. Patrick's Day night with police everywhere. I went to McDonald's, picked it up with a Kleenex, and dumped it in the homeless-proof trashcan. I started thinking that maybe Modesto wasn't the best place to drive at night. It gave me a good conversation topic with the rest of my riders though.
My very last ride of the night was an African-American gentleman who jumped in my car as a protector and defender. He didn't like the way some guys outside my car were approaching me and asking questions while I was waiting for him. I appreciated his good heart so much.
He and I had a good conversation on a topic I had discussed with many people over the weekend: In American culture, why is it okay to pretend to be Irish for one day and go get drunk? I'm married to a very large and proud Irish family, but I have yet to see any of them get drunk. Of course, this conversation isn't political but more of a stand up comedy bit to get people laughing and talking. But this rider and I had a solid conversation about it. We talked about God and religion and holding strong to our values even if they are contrary to our culture. Then he told me that if I wanted to go to a park on Juneteenth, I could get drunk with the African-American culture too. He knew I wasn't a drinker. We had a good laugh at the thought of it though.
You will probably hear more about this in the future, but I believe one of the greatest benefits of this job is that two strangers in a world that is so divided politically, economically, and religiously sit in a car together and have a conversation. A lot of times people don't talk, and that is totally fine. But when there is an intellectually stimulating conversation or a conversation about somebody struggling through life, or even something lighthearted but sincere, we are making connections within our community that never would have had another opportunity to happen. In our world we spend so much time isolating ourselves from "strangers," that we are losing these opportunities to connect.
Somehow I managed to make it through the weekend without any puking. I would say that's a success. I also learned a lot about humanity. I've always wondered why people want to go out and make themselves sick. I believed that most of the time it was because they had a need in their soul that they didn't know how to fill. I still believe that's true for some people. But on night's like St. Patrick's Day I think it's a way for people to have fun with their friends and forget about work. I mean, I love acting stupid and laughing with my friends too, I just don't want to throw or have my judgement impaired. I struggle with that enough without adding alcohol to the equation.
What I have learned so far is that driving intoxicated adults around is just like driving toddlers. They talk loud, they sing along, they backseat drive a lot, they ask questions, they laugh at all my jokes, and you need to make sure they're all buckled in. Most surprisingly, they are thankful. The ones who really should not be driving are the one's who are the most appreciative. I had more than one person thank me for keeping themselves and everybody else on the road safe. And everybody was kind and respectful.
I debate whether this is what I want to do with my time, whether this is a good place for me to be. Am I supporting reckless behavior? Am I contributing to a problem? Then I remember that these people would be partying whether I was there or not. But without me there, they may not have a safe ride home. I saw several accidents over the weekend. Drunk driving is a threat to everybody, including my family and yours. If I have the patience, composure, and sense of humor to put up with these crazy antics and laugh at the same time, then I can be there to help save a life. I feel good about that.
The next afternoon I went to clean my car out. I looked for trash on the backseat and saw something sticky had spilled on my all-weather mats in the way back. (The mystery bottle from Saturday?!?) I went to grab my Windex and paper towel stash in the trunk only to find that the very same group had accidentally stolen my paper towels. But they did tip well.
Don't worry, Mom. I mostly drive very sober commuters in the early morning.
