Where the %&#$ing ladies at?

in #writing7 years ago

It was my first night driving for Uber. I was a little nervous, I had never taken an Uber, I didn't know how it worked. Do we talk? Not talk? I was hoping for talk, I talk to everyone, I'm a talker, I fear silence. I talk to people in line at the grocery, I have personal conversations with the librarian, I ask people about their marriages when sat next to them at a wedding reception. Normally I get away with it. You see, I have been a pastor for almost 20 years and usually when you tell people that you get one of three reactions.

  1. Fear of being evangelized. Avoid eye contact, change subject.
  2. Immediately start telling me about their sick grandmother or their recent divorce
  3. Curiosity, genuine questions, real talk.

I take reaction #1 as a challenge, I endure #2 and I live for #3.

I decided to Uber to meet the "real " people in my town. Pastors can live in the church bubble, I wanted to get outside of it. Plus extra money is nice. I have kids, kids need stuff.

The first three rides were pretty boring, it was a Monday night. It was people going home from work at Walmart, a ride home from the bus station. We made small talk about the new grocery store in town, or their job at a factory. But then it got late, and the game changed completely. After about 11 pm Uber becomes a ferry home from the bars, an escape from a bad boyfriend, people on the way to buy drugs... and everybody talks.

I picked him up about 11:45. He jumped into the front seat of my van and yelled "Where the %&#ing ladies at?" Take me to where the ladies are at brother! It's my %&#ing birthday! It was a Monday night in the suburbs, the ladies were home asleep. The ladies had jobs, families and responsibilities and I didn't think they cared that it was his birthday.
We settled on a bar in a neighboring town about a 15 minute drive away. He had good information that the ladies would be there.
I've learned over the years that most people like to talk about themselves. So I asked him how his night was going, and he went on a rant about the lack of women in our area, overpriced drinks, and then, strangely, about how lonely he was. So I asked him about loneliness and he told me about how his mom had cancer and he spent a lot of time worrying about her and that some of his friends had dropped out of his life because (he thought) they didn't want to deal with the hard stuff.
I told him about losing my mom to cancer and feeling hopeless. I told him I was a pastor and that I talked to a lot of people who were struggling. He started to weep, and asked me if I thought God was real and If He cared about us.
I told him that I did and that I thought God wanted him to know that He loved him and that he could come and talk to Him whenever he wanted. Just then we arrived at the bar. It was a weird moment, He wasn't sure what to do. He just sat in my car silent for a few minutes. Finally he asked me to pray for Him and I did. He hugged me and got out of the car.

As I drove off to my next ride I thought to myself, "Wow , that was one in a million!" But of course it wasn't, turns out we live in a world full of hurting and broken people, in fact not long after that I picked up a prostitute who had just finished "work"...but that is a story for another time.

Thanks for reading, I hope to occasionally share other stories of an Uber driving pastor

Sort:  

This does not suck. Paraphrasing “this is the suburbs on Monday, the ladies are at home sleeping.” Haahaha....Hryrumph! I was worried that I didn’t know what article to feature in my weekly digest. After reading this I’m sad that I have to keep looking. ...I’m serious. No, it’s you Ninja Driver, it’s you!!! Just like winning the Chocolate factory except not at all like it. ..Btw, people will be more likely to click and read if you include pictures. Even if it’s random things like pictures of clouds. Clouds play well with God stuff. Don’t say I never gave you any good advice. I’m going to post the digest later tonight, so expect a downpour of one or two people coming to your page!

I’m so excited, now I can be like you and start leaving funny comments on your page!

Thanks Travelman! I can't believe I'm going to be in the digest!!!!! I have dreamed of this moment since I was a young ninja..I was known as Ninjabigwheeler back then. I'm sure this will lead to fame and fortune, I've heard you can make a lot of money on Steemit..in fact I'm quitting my job! You're the best Travelman! I'm going to spend the rest of my day taking pictures of clouds just like you said. Wait..what's that? Someone is in trouble, I have to go, Travel on Travelman!clouds-02.jpg

No, no, no! Cirrus clouds! Cirrus sells! Cumulus are so 2017. Good decision quitting your job. You may lose your house but you will have your art

Congratulations @ninjadriver, you have decided to take the next big step with your first post! The Steem Network Team wishes you a great time among this awesome community.


Thumbs up for Steem Network´s strategy

The proven road to boost your personal success in this amazing Steem Network

Do you already know that awesome content will get great profits by following these simple steps, that have been worked out by experts?

Congratulations @ninjadriver! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :

Award for the number of comments received

Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honor on SteemitBoard.
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here

If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

By upvoting this notification, you can help all Steemit users. Learn how here!

Congratulations @ninjadriver! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :

Award for the number of upvotes

Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honor on SteemitBoard.
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here

If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

Do you like SteemitBoard's project? Vote for its witness and get one more award!

Congratulations @ninjadriver! You have received a personal award!

1 Year on Steemit
Click on the badge to view your Board of Honor.

Do not miss the last post from @steemitboard:

Introducing SteemitBoard Ranking

Support SteemitBoard's project! Vote for its witness and get one more award!

Congratulations @ninjadriver! You received a personal award!

Happy Birthday! - You are on the Steem blockchain for 2 years!

You can view your badges on your Steem Board and compare to others on the Steem Ranking

Vote for @Steemitboard as a witness to get one more award and increased upvotes!