Sometimes you get a ride that makes for an interesting story; it could be comical, raunchy or enlightening. This was a ride that was….human.
I get a ping to go pick up a ride that is 45 minutes plus, it never says how much more than the 45 minutes but I just guessed it was going to be a San Francisco run. Most of the ones I get like that during that time of the day are.
This was not to be the case, not two seconds after I accepted I got a call from one of these third party request companies that help people get rides form Lyft. Usually older people that do not have cell phones use these companies. They tell me that this ride is going to be a three hour ride……! And they ask me if I was willing to take it, the last two people declined the ride after they arrived to pick him up. I do not know what the policy is about this but that is a real dick move, because if someone is requesting a ride like this you know that they are in a bind.
This was also not the first time I had gotten a request to go to this town from this area. So, not one to back down from a challenge, I take it. Turns out that my rider was an older gentleman that came to the hospital from Merced for his pre-operation visit. He is having a kidney removed in two days….ouch! He cannot drive, recently totaled his truck and no one in his family was able to take him, or pick him up! My man is just not having a good day, or year as it turns out. Just to help you understand what type of ride this is, this is a screen shot of the ride there:
It is 3 hours from Palo Alto and then it’s a 2 hour drive home! This was going to be one hell of a fare!
So, he jumps in and we are off. Right away I know that this is going to be interesting, he is a talker! I will not give details, private conversations about life, family and shared experiences are to be held between those two people. But I will say I know that he loves to fish, how to cook fish every which way to Sunday and that he HATES snakes. There was no more than 10 seconds of silence the entire ride, and by no means that is a complaint! I have had long rides where the passenger said NOTHING! I always gauge the level of conversation within the first few seconds of any ride I give. And this guy….was not shy about what he had on his mind.
It was because of this talk I made the decision to take the kids camping, just the boys this time. I have taken Lucas out but this will be the first all boys camping trip. We are going in about 4 weeks so it gives me time to get my fishing license and get all the gear up to par, get maps and make plans on what we will be doing that weekend. Time is running out, we are always battling time and even short little trips like this will never be forgotten. Life should be more about experiences and time well spent than anything else. Make plans, go to that restaurant that you have always want to go to, set a goal even if it’s a small one, live life before you are 10 years down the road wishing you had of done something.
You can never get back yesterday but you sure as shit can make plans to take tomorrow!