Uber Diaries

Uber Diaries: February 2, 2017 "WHERE I LEFT OFF"

I would have the afternoon myself. I could work on music. I would work on taxes. I would clean the house. I would prep for the album release that's in less than two weeks. But after a while on my own, I felt the need for some movement of energy. Uber. I didn't want to spend money I hadn't even made yet on a car wash. So I pulled out the bottom of the car seat and the car seat and set it inside the house. I threw most the other stuff in the trunk, gambling that no one would need a ride to the airport. I piled the empty coffee cups into an empty bag. I grabbed some wet wipes and cleaned down the faux leather seats. And I began to drive. I would go to the bank, make some deposits I'd been meaning to make for a week. And I would turn on my app and if someone needed a ride while I ran my errands, great.

DINGALINGALING: the app lit up. Uber-X. SOMEONE NEEDED A RIDE. 12 minutes away. Wow. This was further away than usual. I turned left onto Fair Oaks and began to drive, listening to the Bridge on SiriusXm ( Thanks to my cousin Caitie for letting me use her username). The mellow, warm sounds of Folk-Rock filled the car. That's the description on the channel. Mellow Folk Rock. Oh so that's what the music I love is called. Folk-Rock. It's warm, it's mellow, it's poetic, but it's also effortlessly energetic and timeless. Wooden Ships by CSNY played. A Heart of Gold Neil Young. It's Too Late Baby Now Carol King. That's the Way I Always Heard it Should Be Carly Simon.

I finally saw a small hispanic man on the corner. He was wearing a black t-shirt and baggy pants.

"Hi, how's it going?" he said as he climbed in the backseat.

Instantly the car filled with the fumes of cigarettes. It was intense. I wanted to roll down the windows but didn't.

"So where you headed?" I asked.

"Work."

"Oh wow. At 3? That's an interesting time."

"Yea, well I just finished my other job at this café here. Now I'm going to my second job. It's with horses."

"Horses? Oh cool!"

"Yea, I feed them and pet them and stuff."

"Do you get to ride them?"

"Yea. I'd never ridden a horse before but now I do."

"That sounds awesome. Didn't know there were horses around here."

"Oh yea, tons of them. You from around here?"

"I live kinda nearby. But you know Los Angeles...there are so many pockets, it feels like you've never seen it all."

We drove through the dusty hills of Altadena lined with dark green trees,fog swirling up from the bottom of the mountain in the distance.

"I wonder if my kid could ride on the horses when she's older."

"Oh yea, probably."

"You have kids?" I asked him.

"One daughter. She's five."

"Oh wow. I have a daughter too. How's five?"

"It's good actually. She's very...mellow. I was always waiting for that wild and crazy phase but it never really happened. She likes to just like do her own thing, play with arts and crafts and stuff."

I dropped him off on the corner and he wished me a good day.

I felt relaxed, like I could do more or I could stop. It didn't really matter.

My phone lit up again.

This time the gps took me to a high school I've driven by many times. School was letting out and there were crowds of teenagers in black hoodies, red hoodies, green hoodies---like a bag of m&m's had spilled out all over the lawn. They were headed towards buses and cars. Right in the middle of the entry way was a group of girls. There was a one large girl, with an afro pulled into a pony tail. She was tall and wide and wore a blue hoodie. She had a shy smile and giggled at her friends as she walked over.