He gets in the back and settles into his seat without much more than a casual greeting. He looks at his phone as I drive, and for the first ten minutes of the twenty-minute trip, there is silence of the kind that makes one forget there is another person in the car.
Seemingly unprompted, he breaks the silence.
“Something interesting happened to me today.”
“Oh yeah? What was that?”
“So… I haven’t used soap or shampoo in a year, and I don’t wear deodorant either. But today at work, this girl came over and stood by me, and she was like, ‘You smell nice.’”
That seems to be the end of his story and there is a long silence because I can’t think of a reply.
“You ever hear of anything like that?” he asks.
“No,” I tell him. “I can’t say I have.”
He goes back to his phone. We return to silence for the rest of the drive.
Memoirs of a Rideshare Driver is a series that tells true stories of my 10,000+ trips as a rideshare driver. I will post them every Monday.
Hey Greg, good to see you posting stuff on Substack, if you don't recognize the name you know me on facebook as James Rewucki - I go by Frater Seamus for my writing and music posts now.
Anyways, I dig the Rideshare stories concept, now that I know you're on substack I will keep an eye out for new posts.