A Dreamer, A Teacher, A Trucker, An Artist
September 5, 2017, 6:45AM
Pick up nearby. Two retired teachers headed for Idaho for the first time. Originally from Southern California, they were invited to join friends in Coeur d'Alene. I sized them up! <g>. Teachers, union members, most likely Democrats.
I asked about their friend. Former Educator and former law enforcement officer. Hmm. Coeur d'Alene. The town has a history, first for its ties to White Supremacists and the KKK,but people say it's changed over the years. I have first hand knowledge. When I was a SVP at Prodigy, we were purchased by tech tycoon Greg Carr, along with the richest man in the world, Carlos Slim Helu of Mexico. Greg Carr is a smart man and a peaceful man. After the Aryan Nation was sued and forced to give up its compound in nearby Hayden Lake, Greg Carr did something big.He bought the compound, gifted it to a college and turned it into a peace park.
So I got to educate the teachers who happened to have taught social studies who were fascinated. Coeur d'Alene has changed considerably and has done its best to erase its tragic history. It's a gorgeous part of the country and from what I've read, its beauty has replaced the ugliness.
I managed to get a pick-up a minute later. A woman got into the car with great looking Kenneth Cole luggage. I asked: "Pink?" She said: 'No. Blush." Excuse me! I really thought this woman was about 32. Turns out she turned 52 in May. The trip was out East of Phoenix, a long but lucrative ride. She used to work at Nike and was now back in Phoenix with another job. Her husband died 20+years ago in a car accident which led to a conversation of the crazy roads, which of course, led to a revelation about Erica. She has a great life, great kids, new starts and we shared a brief moment about the fragility of life. It's fragile but it also can be rewarding. It takes character to bounce back. As Itzhak Perlman said: "When you can no longer make music with what you have, you must make music with what you have left."
Later that day, I got a pickup in a run-down part of Mesa, which is one of the oldest suburbs of Phoenix. Bars and gates on most of the windows, a few homes being renovated and gentrified. I pulled up to the house, waited a few and a 20-something motioned he had to brush his teeth and he'd be a few more minutes. No problem. Good breath is important to us Uber drivers.
He got in the car and his personality did not reflect his looks. I noticed his t-shirt and I said: "hey! Is that Bob Ross?" he said: "You know of him?" I said; "Of course. The greatest TV painting show in the history of the medium." Cole was NOT a painter but said he was inspired by Ross and it helped him escape the daily work routine and take him to a better place. He's a working class kid, got a GED and is now working at a factory and saving money to buy a car. It was a $3.00 ride and he handed me a buck and said: "it's all I have on me." I said: "that's ok. buy yourself a paint brush." He thanked me. Uber is not always about the money.
As luck would have, there were no calls on the 30 mile trip back up to where I live.
Wednesday, September 6, 7:50AM
As I've noted, pickups AT the airport early in the morning are rare but managed to get a call. his name was Lopez, not sure if that was his first or last name, since Uber usually gives first names to make it more personal. He had flown in on the first flight from Dallas, on his way to a new job as a medical assistant at a big medical center in Chandler. His parents came to the US, illegally 14 years ago when he was 13, from Guanajuato. I asked him if that was where San Miguel Allende was. He smiled, but here his parents left Mexico for a better life and SMA is a place where American tourists and those seeking second homes, flock to.
He was legal and was a DACA baby but had no idea what would happen to him in the next six months, let alone the next six days. He felt safe for the time being and it's no secret that I think we have to find a way to keep these hard-working children of illegals here because they are the ones working in hospitals, going to school, helping Houston residents rebuild or in a story on CNN, one who drowned saving his neighbors.
A few more small trips and the last was a guy I picked up in an apartment complex. He got in and I asked where he was from.I ask everybody. He was from Somalia, in a small town about 500km outside of Mogadishu. He was 33 and came to the US 12 years ago.
He lamented that no one was in charge anymore and there were very few of Somalis or his family still living there. He told me he loved America. He also said Somalia was his spiritual home. As we turned down a street in an industrial area, I asked him where to drop him off. He pointed to a HUGE Peterbilt 18 wheeler. He said, proudly: "That's mine. I have to bump the dock in Denver." I found out later it means deliver a load. On the front, it had stenciled, "Somali4Ever." He pressed his key fob, got out of my car and walked over to the cab. He yelled to me to drive safely. I told him to do the same.
America is where he resides but there's no doubt, Somalia is his heart.
Pick up nearby. Two retired teachers headed for Idaho for the first time. Originally from Southern California, they were invited to join friends in Coeur d'Alene. I sized them up! <g>. Teachers, union members, most likely Democrats.
I asked about their friend. Former Educator and former law enforcement officer. Hmm. Coeur d'Alene. The town has a history, first for its ties to White Supremacists and the KKK,but people say it's changed over the years. I have first hand knowledge. When I was a SVP at Prodigy, we were purchased by tech tycoon Greg Carr, along with the richest man in the world, Carlos Slim Helu of Mexico. Greg Carr is a smart man and a peaceful man. After the Aryan Nation was sued and forced to give up its compound in nearby Hayden Lake, Greg Carr did something big.He bought the compound, gifted it to a college and turned it into a peace park.
So I got to educate the teachers who happened to have taught social studies who were fascinated. Coeur d'Alene has changed considerably and has done its best to erase its tragic history. It's a gorgeous part of the country and from what I've read, its beauty has replaced the ugliness.
I managed to get a pick-up a minute later. A woman got into the car with great looking Kenneth Cole luggage. I asked: "Pink?" She said: 'No. Blush." Excuse me! I really thought this woman was about 32. Turns out she turned 52 in May. The trip was out East of Phoenix, a long but lucrative ride. She used to work at Nike and was now back in Phoenix with another job. Her husband died 20+years ago in a car accident which led to a conversation of the crazy roads, which of course, led to a revelation about Erica. She has a great life, great kids, new starts and we shared a brief moment about the fragility of life. It's fragile but it also can be rewarding. It takes character to bounce back. As Itzhak Perlman said: "When you can no longer make music with what you have, you must make music with what you have left."
Later that day, I got a pickup in a run-down part of Mesa, which is one of the oldest suburbs of Phoenix. Bars and gates on most of the windows, a few homes being renovated and gentrified. I pulled up to the house, waited a few and a 20-something motioned he had to brush his teeth and he'd be a few more minutes. No problem. Good breath is important to us Uber drivers.
He got in the car and his personality did not reflect his looks. I noticed his t-shirt and I said: "hey! Is that Bob Ross?" he said: "You know of him?" I said; "Of course. The greatest TV painting show in the history of the medium." Cole was NOT a painter but said he was inspired by Ross and it helped him escape the daily work routine and take him to a better place. He's a working class kid, got a GED and is now working at a factory and saving money to buy a car. It was a $3.00 ride and he handed me a buck and said: "it's all I have on me." I said: "that's ok. buy yourself a paint brush." He thanked me. Uber is not always about the money.
As luck would have, there were no calls on the 30 mile trip back up to where I live.
Wednesday, September 6, 7:50AM
As I've noted, pickups AT the airport early in the morning are rare but managed to get a call. his name was Lopez, not sure if that was his first or last name, since Uber usually gives first names to make it more personal. He had flown in on the first flight from Dallas, on his way to a new job as a medical assistant at a big medical center in Chandler. His parents came to the US, illegally 14 years ago when he was 13, from Guanajuato. I asked him if that was where San Miguel Allende was. He smiled, but here his parents left Mexico for a better life and SMA is a place where American tourists and those seeking second homes, flock to.
He was legal and was a DACA baby but had no idea what would happen to him in the next six months, let alone the next six days. He felt safe for the time being and it's no secret that I think we have to find a way to keep these hard-working children of illegals here because they are the ones working in hospitals, going to school, helping Houston residents rebuild or in a story on CNN, one who drowned saving his neighbors.
A few more small trips and the last was a guy I picked up in an apartment complex. He got in and I asked where he was from.I ask everybody. He was from Somalia, in a small town about 500km outside of Mogadishu. He was 33 and came to the US 12 years ago.
He lamented that no one was in charge anymore and there were very few of Somalis or his family still living there. He told me he loved America. He also said Somalia was his spiritual home. As we turned down a street in an industrial area, I asked him where to drop him off. He pointed to a HUGE Peterbilt 18 wheeler. He said, proudly: "That's mine. I have to bump the dock in Denver." I found out later it means deliver a load. On the front, it had stenciled, "Somali4Ever." He pressed his key fob, got out of my car and walked over to the cab. He yelled to me to drive safely. I told him to do the same.
America is where he resides but there's no doubt, Somalia is his heart.
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