Or … An Uber ride into the Twilight Zone
Being
an Uber driver offers a unique perspective.
Sometimes you get a glimpse of something or experience an event that
really makes you wonder why, at that particular moment, the Universe put you in the audience … ? As in, WTH???
Case
in point: Recently, early one Friday morning, I picked up a lovely young woman
at a local hotel. She was professionally
dressed in a black pants suit, white blouse, with dark hair and eyes, café au
lait skin, and a beautiful smile.
I
checked her destination and said, “So, we’re going up to the Medical College?”
“Yes,”
she said, “But can we drive into town so I can buy some toothpaste at
RiteAid? I can’t believe I forgot my
toothpaste! I have my medical school
interview this morning, I can’t go in without brushing my teeth!”
I
assured her that was no problem, and off we went. “So, aside from the missing
toothpaste, how’s your day so far?”, expecting the usual, “Oh, fine, how’s
yours?”
Instead,
I heard, “Oh, my God, I can’t believe what just happened!”
“What
do you mean?” I asked, curious.
“Well,
I was trying to check out of the hotel, but … Oh, my God, it was so weird. The
guy behind the counter was … he was drunk! Or, I don’t know, he was all messed
up. He couldn’t talk. And he wasn’t
even dressed!”
I
shook my head, trying to clear it. What
did she just say? “What do you mean, he
wasn’t dressed?”
“He
didn’t have a shirt on!” she exclaimed.
“He was half naked, completely out of it, I couldn’t check out, and I
really needed to leave.” She was still agitated from her situation. “I’ve never been in such an uncomfortable
situation at a hotel, it was just so bizarre.”
By
then we were at the drug store, and she went in, coming back out shortly with
the much-needed tooth cleanser. We discussed further what could possibly be
going on at this hotel, and as we drew closer to her destination, I said,
“Well, Sarah, I wish you a wonderful interview and much success, I can tell you
have a lot going for you.” She thanked
me and exited the car, straightening her shoulders as she strode into the
building, bag over her shoulder.
I
tapped my way out of that ride to complete it in the Uber app, and then, as I
drove out of the complex, another ride request rang in. I glanced at the pickup location, and did a
double take when it was the same hotel I’d just picked Sarah up at. My Spidey senses were on alert.
The
hotel was a few blocks away, and I pulled in only 3 minutes later. My Spidey senses were really clanging in my head
when a beautiful young woman got in, dressed impeccably in a black pants suit,
white blouse and black pumps. I would
have though it was a déjà vu, except she was a tall pale blond.
“Let
me guess,” I said, “You’ve got your med school interview up at the medical
college?” She looked at me,
dumbfounded. “Yes!” she exclaimed. “How did you know?” I clicked the ride start on the app, and sure
enough, the destination of the medical college appeared. I had to laugh. “Well, my last rider was dressed just like
you and that’s where she was going!”
But
things really got strange when I asked my usual, “So, how’s your day so far?”
“Well,
first off, I forgot my toothpaste!” she exclaimed.
At
this point, I’m looking around for Candid Camera. Before I could respond she
said, “So at 5 a.m. when I woke up, I thought I’d check with the front
desk. You know, they often have those
little travel tubes for the guests, right?”
“Sure,”
I say.
“Well,
I get down there, and there is somebody lying on the floor, in the lobby,
passed out or something.”
“What
the heck? Are you serious?” I asked?
“Totally.”
She said. “And I was really trying to focus on getting ready, so, ignoring the
elephant in the room, I asked this guy behind the counter if they had any
toothpaste they could give me, one of the travel tubes.”
“And
then what happened?” I asked. I’m
seriously doubting what version of reality I’m in at this point.
“It
was so strange!! It was almost as if he didn’t even work there! He said, ‘Uhm,
I don’t know if they have those here.’” And then he looked at this woman who
was there with him, and he asked her, ‘Do you know if they have those here?’
and she said, ‘No, I don’t think they have those here.’”
“They
said ‘they,’ as if they didn’t even work there?” I asked again, just baffled.
“Yes,”
she nodded her head affirmatively. “And he clearly wasn’t really listening to
me. Finally he just told me he was trying to take care of the guy on the floor,
and asked me to come back down in 10 minutes and he’d help me then.” She paused to sip from her water bottle, and
continued. “So, I went back up to my
room, took a shower, got dressed and came back down. When I tried to talk to him, he didn’t recognize
me, didn’t remember at all our conversation about toothpaste, was completely
clueless. But the guy on the floor was
gone.” She sat back in the seat, shook
her head as if to rid herself of the memory.
“I have no idea what is going on in that place, but I never want to stay
there again!”
By
this time we were at the medical college, and I said, “Well, Julie, I’d
definitely complain to the management if I were you, see if you can get
reimbursed or something. Good luck with the interview—though I don’t think
you’ll need it. And if you see a woman named Sarah, dressed just like you, say
hi to her—she’s the one I just dropped off her, and she forgot her toothpaste
too!”
Julie
was half out of the car, but turned back to me. “Seriously?” I just laughed and said “Yes! I can’t believe
it either. Take care!” and off she went.
Well,
I pondered this for the next few rides … what are the odds that two young women
get into my car from the same hotel, going to the same place for the same
reason, dressed identically, who don’t know each other, and they each forgot
their toothpaste? Freaking Rod Serling’s
Twilight Zone.
I
gave a few more rides, still marveling at the oddity of the morning. Little did I know that my next rider would
provide chapter 3 to this strange saga.
She was a young woman, with a hotel her destination—not the one from my
other riders.
But
I picked up on the cue. “So, I imagine
that there is a network of hotel staff and employees in Burlington that knows
what’s going on behind the scenes, am I right?” I asked her. “Oh, yes,” she assured me.
“So,
what’s going on at the ________ Hotel?” I asked her.
“What
do you mean?” she asked. I told her what
the other two riders had related to me about their experience at that hotel.
“Well,
that makes sense,” she said.
“Why,
what do you mean?” I had to know.
“Well,
last Monday we got a frantic call from a woman who said she was staying at that
hotel, and she had to get out of there! ‘I can’t stay here! I can’t stay here
another minute!’ she kept saying. We got her booked and she came over that day,
but I didn’t talk to her.”
“Hmm
… I wonder what happened to her?” I mused aloud. My rider shrugged. “No idea,” she said as she
opened the car door. “But I’ll probably hear about it soon enough. Thanks for the ride!”
