Driving Miss ‘Do

Do the names Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp mean anything to you? They are the co-founders of the hugely successful car service – Uber. They lounge on their heaps of millions because they came up with the genius idea of “direct transportation” or what us peasants define them as… cabs. 

Stepping into an Uber is like stepping into a lounge for a first date  – it takes a few minutes to locate where they’re sitting, they don’t exactly resemble their photo, the initial greeting is a little awkward and it’s unknown if you’re strapped in for a bumpy ride. 

I usually choose to sit in the front seat of the Uber. Not because I am in need of some intellectual conversation, but because I tend to get car sick and when you look down at your phone to avoid conversation, the city spins that much more.

Now, it’s not like I mind chatting with the driver, but I wish we could discuss the weather for the 20 minute drive rather than being asked 21 questions – 21 first date-type questions. 

What do you do for a living? What are your hobbies? Where are you originally from? What is your Zodiac sign? What is your opinion on vaccinations? 

Things become so personal he may as well drive us to the Courthouse to sign a marriage certificate. 

Maybe I have a certain look that says tell me your deepest darkest secrets and therefore, I should sit in the backseat to disguise my face. Kind of like I did at work…

In SPCA – Singles Patrol Cute Alerts, the cute guy was no where in sight. Today, everyone did a double take. 

I usually switch up my hair colour around this time of year. It’s never a drastic change; my hair has pretty much had the same colour rotation since the 10th grade, but when Spring has sprung I want to be as fresh as potpourri in a public washroom.

This time I decided on low lights. The colour did come out lighter than expected, but my talented and charming stylist could dye my hair bright yellow and I would still tell him it looks great. 

Whenever I go to the salon he waves my hair with a flat iron, which means I might as well not wash my hair for a least 2 weeks right? Can’t have that colour fading, but may have it smelling. 

The next day I walked into work wearing my glasses with light, straight hair unlike my usual dark, frizzy hair with squinting eyes.

Everyone who passed me in the hallway were unsure of the new look and most stated they did not recognize me. 

The Manager of the floor looked bewildered and asked, “do you have a date tonight?”

Afterwards when I went to assist a resident to the morning program, she stared at me and with hesitation asked, “do I know you?”

When I told her my name she raised her voice and argued, “no, Rachelle has curly hair and does not wear glasses!”

It took a lot of convincing to leave her room together. I lured her with the adult version of candy – coffee.

My Friday ‘do was then the topic of conversation in programs, between staff and informal chit chat in the hallways.  

What I learned from this:

• I should wear my glasses more often for obvious reasons
• Residents are aware of my existence
• I had another dateless Friday night – not even one with an Uber driver 

Check me out on Instagram for a glance into the day to day life of a clumsy Recreation Therapist