What About Bob? in 2017

I had quite the adventure the other day. I picked up a passenger from the airport who needed to go to Enterprise and then back to the airport quickly for a flight. He had forgotten the keys for his actual car in the console of the rental car.

When we got there, they were closing up, but he was still able to get in. I stayed at the gate, anxiously. I didn’t want him to miss his flight. He must have been talking with them for ten minutes before he returned. Somehow he gathered that, although the attendant there claimed to have checked the console, he actually hadn’t before the car had been rented out to another person. Said person was on their way to Seattle, so getting the keys from them wasn’t an option, nor was getting them and making the flight in an hour.

They gave him the new renter’s number, which seems a little questionable, but made sense given the circumstances. Bob talked with him and the guy said he could leave the keys with someone he knew at a gas station in Vader, Washington. Bob asked if I’d drive him there outside of Lyft(since the coverage area is Portland) in exchange for some money, and I agreed. Of course I did, I enjoy adventures.

First we had to go back to the airport so he could set up a new flight. They did him no favors, and he just had to eat the cost for a flight the next morning. He had apparently just started at a new place, so he didn’t want to miss a day, though it seemed unavoidable. It was about 75 minutes to Vader, which was mile marker 60 going north in Washington. I didn’t see any Star Wars related stuff in the town, lost opportunity. Getting the keys was quick, we then got food and headed back. Took about three hours total.

We chatted most of the way there. The experience will definitely stick with me. Bob seemed fairly different from me in a few ways; he was much older, either in his late 50s or early 60s. He had been a nurse for probably at least 30 years. Seemed like he’d been raised by a very religious family, and the influence still seemed there given that he didn’t cuss at all. I think he was still married, he at least for sure used to be, and they adopted a son that was in his early 20s.

I suppose you’ll bond with anyone if you’re stuck in a car with them for three or four hours. Still, it was nice. I think I needed that, then. It’s so easy to be cynical and cold, especially lately for me. I observe people as I’m out driving and via their posts on Facebook, and get scraps of news and worldly events. It’s easy to think poorly of humanity in general. I mean, we are kind of dicks to each other, a lot. It’s also easy to assume the worst of any new person you encounter. Bob was just a warm person in general, he didn’t seem weathered by the world. He kept thanking me and saying what a nice act it was to do, and that most people probably wouldn’t have done it. I did get some money for it, admittedly not as much as I wanted at first. By the end, I didn’t care, I was enjoying the experience. He told me about how he used to be significantly overweight, 400 something pounds, about twice what he is now, before he slimmed down with the help of his sister and the goal of swimming in a competition several years ago. It was pretty inspiring, he showed me pictures as well. It really is never too late to improve yourself, or even to keep trying. I’ve stopped trying in life, which is not good. And yet, reversible.

Last updated September 02, 2017