Wisdom from my Uber Driver: The American Dream

Like many of you I've been disgusted lately by some of my fellow Americans.  That has definitely been the case after a very trying news week.  So many are fed up with division and those who create it.   I've been tired of politicians who use division to make people fearful and forward their nefarious cause.

I will admit.   This week I've been tired of America.

And that is why if you've also been tired or cynical or angry or afraid,  I must share this story.

Last night I called an uber from the train stop I was at to get the rest of the way home since it was rainy and very dark.

Muhammad was my Uber driver last night.  Usually I can gauge very quickly which uber drivers want to chat and sometimes I don't particularly feel like chatting myself.  But last night I endulged in my typical polite conversation with Muhammed.

I asked how long he worked for uber and if he liked it.   His enthusiasm for his tone when he told me that he loved it was surprising.  He started giving tips on the best places to catch ubers and then went into how busy the night had been because it had been raining.  He told me some people caught ubers just to drive them a couple blocks.

The jaded part of me who was tired of people's privilege took over and said, "isn't that annoying to pick up someone who just wants to be driven a couple blocks"

Get ready,  because this is where I really started to listen.

Muhammed said, "No," without a smattering of irony, "I'm grateful for every dollar I can earn."

How humbled on my tower of fortune and privilege I felt.

I later asked him how often he drives and he told me "well,  when I was in school I did it every night along with my other job"

More humility.  I never had to be enrolled in any school and work two jobs at the same time.

"But when I graduated I got a job promotion so now I only drive uber on weekends"

I asked him what he did for his other job , and he is a manager of something that I didn't entirely understand.

He said, "Listen, I've only been in the USA for three years. And you won't believe this, but I started out working as a valet.  Now I'm a manager at the company I was a valet for." Then he laughed, "and now I manage some of my previous managers."

I laughed also, "that's awesome!"

"But I am very respectful of those people," he told me.

Of course he was.

I thanked him for telling me that story.  I told him, "That's the story of the American dream. You don't hear people telling that kind of story much anymore"

He said, "I believe that this is the land of opportunity and if you work hard you can be successful."

Do I think his glasses were a tad too rose colored? Sure.  Would I have liked to give up my jaded glasses in exchange for his for awhile? You bet.

Obviously the USA  has problems, but Muhammed's is the kind of story America was built on.   And even hundreds of years ago it was an overly positive way to look at the darkness that has always been happening around us in this country.

But the country Muhammed was talking about is the country we should strive to be.   Even if the reality is that we never can 100% quite be that country.   But we can be better.

And dividing and frightening and shooing out people is not going to make us that country.  If we continue on that path, we will continue to be the country that we were last week. Hopefully most people really don't want that.

I hope.