Late Christmas Story

This past Christmas fell on a Friday.  The Tuesday before Christmas, I was out hustling fares for Uber in the late afternoon.  I had been out since 4:00 AM, so I was looking for a good time to head home and avoid the rush hour traffic, as I headed to I-95 South to Colonial Heights.  Richmond's downtown traffic was starting to pick up and I was thinking maybe I "needed one more fare to make my night", just like the Harry Chapin song.  I was on Canal St. when I got a ping to pick up a customer off Tredegar.  GPS told me to turn left and head back the opposite way down Byrd.

 I arrived a few minutes later on the red brick road in front of a high rise right next to the river. There was a lone person standing out front where WAZE had told me to make my pick-up.  It was a young fella', I'm guessing around 20-something.  He was casually dressed, very polite and considerate.  Unlike a lot of my Uber customers, he jumped right in to the front seat of my truck.  I introduced myself and we headed to his destination.

He was headed to the near West End to pick up his BMW which was in the shop for repairs on West Broad.  As usual, GPS wanted to route me on the Downtown Expressway.  As we were heading out, the young gentleman asked me about the tolls.  I told him not to worry about tolls because Uber would reimburse me.  He seemed concerned that I would have to put out my own 70 cents to get him to his destination.  He was very sincere about this and I assured him a second time that the toll was not a big deal.  Since he worked in a high rise in finance and was in his twenties and on his way to pick up his BMW from the shop, I deduced that he was a young go-getter and probably going places.  He was impressive and I was thinking that some girl was going to be very lucky to catch him.

He was especially congenial and easy to talk to and we immediately struck up a comfortable rapport.  We both enjoyed talking about Richmond History, food and our favorite restaurants. It was a short 15 minute commute, but the time passed much faster than that because of the good conversation.  As we were about to turn off of Broad St., I noticed that the auto repair shop was right next to Aunt Sarah's Pancakes.  I told the young man that this restaurant was one of  the best kept secrets in Richmond. "A few weeks ago, they were running a special of 3 large buttermilk pancakes for a buck, ninety-nine, and not only that, for a buck, fifty more you could add two pieces of Uncle John's famous honey dipped chicken with a side order of potatoes or fried apples--very refreshing for a city that charges $10 for a sandwhich just about everywhere you go."

I added that, "As a matter of fact, Aunt Sarah's was named for Sarah Dankos and the restaurant used to be owned by the Dankos family and I grew up with the Dankos boys."  My passenger looked surprised and said, "My mom grew up with the Dankos boys."  Now I was the one who looked surprised.

I asked, "Did your mom go to Henrico High School, by chance?" to which he replied, "yes".  I told him that I went to Henrico High School, so then I asked, "What year did your mom graduate?"  He thought a second and said, "1973".  I said, "Wait a minute, I graduated in 1973, what in the world is your mama's name?" and the young man replied, she used to be Marcia Riddell.

I started laughing and told the nice young man, whose name is Brandt, that not only did I go to High School with his mama, but we were actually in the same first grade class in 1961 at J.E.B. Stuart Elementary on Fendall Avenue, and that I also knew his Aunt Lynette and graduated a year behind his Uncle Clyde at Henrico.  It was a real "small world" after all story.

Brandt, is was very nice meeting you.  Your mom and dad, Aunt Lynette, Uncle Clyde and Uncle Doug have every reason to be very proud of how you turned out.  For me, meeting you was just an nice, extra Christmas present.  Thank you and I hope to see you around town in the future.