“Are you still mad?”, the Uber driver said, when I told him about my vision loss. I have never been asked this and i knee-jerk replied, “Not any more.” I thought about it and realized I was never mad. I was sad and lost but never angry. I wonder why I wasn’t? The child SCREAMING for the last hour at the coffeehouse where I write this is pushing me to the brink of Incredible Hulkdom. But waking up blind did not. Something to explore in therapy or perhaps we let sleeping anger lie.
I appreciate this stranger’s insightful question, the recognition and acknowledgement of what had happened. This guy was a character and I would never have guessed such a remark would come from him. I admit it, I pre-judge my Uber drivers, mostly from a safety factor, but I will cop to the human element as well. This man was the biggest surprise of 58 Uber rides.
You never know what you’ll face in life or how you’ll react to it. And you never know what awaits as you slide into the back seat of an Uber.
Be smart.
Be safe.
Be open.
Twenty minutes in a car with someone you’ve never met before and will most likely never see again can have an unexpected, positive, lasting effect. The seat belt I wore across my chest in the passenger-side back seat of that Jeep Renegade was unfastened a few weeks ago, but I still feel that Uber driver in my heart.
