because i’m a crazy person, i took a passenger from inglewood to san diego on easter sunday and i was accepting little rides back north up the coast to get home to LA.
figured i should start at the san diego airport. never been there before and can’t say i liked it. but there was a place where drivers could take a leak.
got a trip from the airport to oceanside where all the military bases are. pretty sure he was a spy because when i asked him if he was, he said he was a consultant.
after that ride, i got an unusual ping to take a 7-minute ride back down south to carlsbad. the unusual thing was such a ride would usually pay me $5-$6 but uber was offering $12.50. was i reading it wrong? on your best trips, you make a buck-a-mile. this was twice that amount. Why?
the pickup was at a restaurant near the freeway and the drop off was a motel near the freeway. super easy.
i worried about a catch, but there was none.
she was incredible.
her name was rose and she said she worked at lowe’s hardware. she was very chatty. i asked her if it was hard to work there, because you have to know soooo much.
she said she was a cashier and it was only hard when she had female customers because she was deaf and her hearing aids don’t pick up higher frequencies that well. i was shocked she said she was deaf, because i was wearing a mask, the radio played quietly, and she could hear me perfectly.
i’m so sorry about your condition! i said, waiting for the light to change so we could get onto the freeway.
don’t be sorry, rose said, it was a blessing. i hear dead people.
and i see them.
and it is not fun.
as she said that, i thought of my friend, a medium, who has told me about her gift and how she helps lost souls get unstuck.
it was all very confusing to me. as a christian, i felt torn, the good book says stay away from mediums and psychics, and then of course later, it says fuckit just love everyone.
that friend, like this woman, both said the dead are annoying. but rose also said, they can be mean. and frustrating.
they just don’t listen.
she cursed her alleged gift, one that her older sister, mom, and aunt all share.
those women embrace it, but rose said it gave her headaches and anxiety and kept her from sleeping.
but then, during the birth of my son, i had a stroke and went deaf, she said matter-of-factly.
OMG, i am so sorry! i said, wishing this ride was longer, because holy!
don’t be sorry, rose said. the deafness muted most of the voices.
it was a blessing. if I want, i can focus and talk with them, but who the fuck wants to do that?
because it was easter, i asked her if she believed in god and if she considered her deafness as a way that he could ease her pain?
yes, i believe in god. and jesus is there hanging out with people. i know that, she stated, flatly. but i have to be careful with spirituality.
do you pray every night and thank Him for–
I DO NOT PRAY! THAT BRINGS OUT THE VOICES! she interrupted.
she said her sister makes good money channeling and being a medium, and chides her for turning her back on the gift.
but, Rose said, if she wants to bring these souls from the other side and if she wants to deal with all the drama that can happen when you do that shit, then that’s on her.
i just want to scan hammers and nails at the lowes.
as we drove up to the parking lot of the best western where i can only assume she lives, i asked, where’s someplace where there are guaranteed lost souls, ghosts, spirits, etc.?
the cemetery! she said. people say dead people don’t like cemeteries but they’re wrong. they’re all over the place.
you won’t catch me there.