R and J in the USA

July 8, 2024

Interesting stories and interesting people can often be found in an Uber. I once took an Uber ride in Birmingham, Alabama, with a driver who moonlighted as a pro wrestler (or perhaps a pro wrestler who moonlighted as an Uber driver). He talked about wrestling people on short notice with no opportunity to practice with them in advance. I asked him how they were able to make it look smooth and realistic without having an opportunity to coordinate the moves ahead of time. He said, “It’s like dancing. Two strangers who both know the tango can dance together and make it look good. Wrestling is like a dance. If both people know the moves, they can dance together.

While in Portland, Maine, I took Ubers to and from the Maine Mall to deal with a computer issue. There were no pro wrestlers behind the wheel, but both drivers led lives outside their cars.

The driver for my first Uber ride of the day was a middle-aged man with Caribbean accent who was retired from Royal Caribbean Cruise line. He said he retired as an officer in charge of food & beverage, working both in the office and on-ship. Despite working 16-hour days while on board, he loved it. “Best job I ever had.” When I asked him why, he replied, “Camaraderie. Working together as a team. The people I met.”

He did some consulting work after he retired. With all he learned at Royal Caribbean, he said he could go to any company in the hospitality industry and tell them what they were doing wrong, why they weren’t making money, and what to do to make money, and then help them implement the changes.

His wife had worked in accounting at Royal Caribbean and now consults. They are in Portland for a month while she does some consulting work with a local company.

He told me, “I’ve been everywhere. All seven continents. Even Antarctica.”

He began telling me the story of his trip to Antarctica.

A friend of his who is a vice president for a cruise line comped him and his wife two deluxe cabins on a cruise to Antarctica. He said it was the highest-level experience available, with all the amenities, and would have cost $50,000 if he had to pay for it. (The second cabin was used by members of his wife’s family.)

They had to fly to Buenos Aires, then take a two-hour charter flight to the cruise departure site, which he described as, “The last human settlement on earth (geographically speaking).”

“That’s why it was so hard for the explorers,” he said, “because it was so far from civilization. And we know that because they kept journals. When people would go looking for stranded explorers in the warmer weather, they would find bodies holding journals to their chests.”

I asked him what the experience of being in Antarctica was like. He lit up when he heard the fascination in my voice and started to talk in a tone that let me know a good story was coming, which made me even more eager to hear it than I already was.

And then the ride ended.