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Speaker 1: Most tuba drivers serve a wide variety of customers. Some

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probably have never seen the same person more than once,

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but I've been serving the same person for almost a

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year now. At first, it was a coincidence. He lived

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relatively close to me, so when I accepted the ride

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and picked him up, he, for some reason, seemed relieved

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that someone had come. Then I saw why. His route

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was a four hour ride all the way to the

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nearby seaside town, a town often visited in the summer months,

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but he was heading there in late autumn. I figured

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people canceled on him once they saw the route, so

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my accepting it gratified him. I needed the money, so

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I figured it was worth the time. He was quiet

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the whole and never spoke as he left, not even

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a thank you for making this absurd trip. And being

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new to uber, I started to realize what I experienced

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riders would decline such a route. I was stuck in

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the town with barely anyone doing anything since it was

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outside of peak activity. I made a few routes for

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some locals, trying to scrape some extra cash before heading back,

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but it was nowhere near the rates of the city

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where I lived. Dejected, and I was ready to head

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back when I saw a ding near where I dropped

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the guy off. I accepted, and to my surprise it

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was him. The route was to take him back home,

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another four hour ride, which would make the day's profits

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far higher than if I'd done a whole day in

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the city. Ecstatic at the thought, I drove him back

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again in complete silence until I dropped him off and

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called it a day. Overall, it was a strange sequence

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of events, and at the time one I did not

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want to repeat. Until I saw the tip. He had

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left a hefty thirty percent tip on top of the

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already expensive ride both ways For someone struggling for money,

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this was a godsend. When I accepted a route the

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next day and went to the location, I was surprised

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to see that it was him again. The route was

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readying for a four hour ride back to the seaside town.

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It was obviously strange that he would go so far

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yet again two days in a row, but knowing what

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he was paying, I accepted again. This time I didn't

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even bother doing any of the local routes there. I

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just hung around and grabbed a drink with the app

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open a hovering where I dropped him off, and like clockwork,

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around two hours later, a ding popped. I quickly finished

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the drink and accepted the ride, and it was him

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ready to go home. I relaxed when I finished my

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shift and lit up when I saw that yet again,

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he dropped a thirty percent bonus on top. The next day,

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when I started my routine of checking the app, I

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was doubtful that he would want to go there again.

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It was preposterous that he even went twice like that,

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but a lingering hope in the back of my head

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made me check if there were any roots around where

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I picked him up, and my jaw dropped when I

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saw one there exactly where I usually picked him up.

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This set my routine for the next few months. Every weekday,

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I would start up my app at around eight a m.

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Driving to the town, waiting around two hours, and then

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driving back, each time getting a juicy thirty percent tip

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on top. God knows if he did this on the

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weekend with someone else, but I was not going to

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do this seven days a week. I'm not a very

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torgative person, but I sometimes tried to start a conversation.

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But I'm just met with silence. I even tried to

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offer my personal number in case he wanted to do

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this outside of Uber, so they wouldn't scrape their fees

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from the payment and make it cheaper for him. But no,

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he would just look out the window and watch the roadside,

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eyes glazed over, lost in thought. So when he finally spoke,

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I nearly jumped. The town means a lot to me,

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he said. His voice sounded like someone who had just

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woken up, making me wonder if this was the first

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time he'd spoken to anyone in a long time. I froze,

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but didn't want to pass up the opportunity of knowing

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more so I asked why. He opened up about his

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connection to the place, and he used to go there often,

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and now that he was no longer working, just wanted

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to spend his days there. I asked him if he

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was retired. He said that he wasn't, but that he

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lived off of passive income that supported his lifestyle. It

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was intriguing learning about his unique circumstances, and despite the

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long ride, we soon neared the location and he quietened up.

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On the way home, he talked about the things he

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liked there, the local ice cream shop that made their

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own flavors, the bi quentals that let you see the

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scenes in good time. The corpse I shopped around was

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suddenly animated of life with nostalgia, even recommended places for

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me to go. Somehow, knowing that I now waited for

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his ride back, I dropped him off with a smile,

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excited to learn more. The day after, when I got home,

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my eyes widened. When I checked the uber app. He

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slammed me with a fifty percent tip, far exceeding what

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he had tipped before. I almost wanted to return it,

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but I didn't want to look a gift horse in

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the mouth. And helped me so much with my financial issues,

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and he seemed to have an endless sort of income

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to have supported this strange lifestyle. The day after, I

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tried asking him more questions. I was curious about more

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of the local experiences and his connection to them. Despite

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having been there so much, I knew next to nothing

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about the place, But I was only met with stone

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cold silence. It was like he had reverted back to

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how he was just solemnly looking out the window of

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the whole ride. The way back was all the same.

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It seemed he had expended his burst of social energy

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and fell back into his usual routine. I tried again

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the day after and was met with more silence. The

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tips reverted back to thirty percent. Nothing to scoff at,

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but short of the big payday I was. After a

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while went by like this, a silent ride there, a

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silent ride back Sandwich, between visiting the few spots he recommended,

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which were just as good as he had hyped them

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up to be. Yet despite visiting all the places he mentioned,

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he would never be there. Maybe it was a coincidence

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we would always miss each other, having gone to different spots.

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The time only allowed me to see one, maybe two,

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depending on where I went, But after weeks of this,

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surely we would have lined up at least Once. I

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was jolted again in the middle of a midweek drive.

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He broke the silence with another nugget of information. I

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go there to see my wife, he said bluntly. This

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answer raised so many questions. Long distance is often almost

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entirely reserved for young people or people who cannot afford

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to move in together, but he was neither of those.

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Before I could ask him about it, he went on.

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He spoke of how much he loved seeing her, describing

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how she looked, middle aged, full blonde hair with a

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button nose, was slender, but not too slim. He was infatuated,

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glowing as he spoke, not only animated but happy, a

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sharp contrast to how he usually seemed, so much so

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that I didn't want to interrupt him with my curious

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yet benign questions. Sadly, he only started talking near the

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end of the trip, so by the time an opportunity

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came up to ask him my questions, we were pulling

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up to his stop. I waited around, too curious to

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do much in the town, only grabbing some food and

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waiting with excitement. After spending so much time with him,

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I was invested in his story, only drip fed to

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me in rare times. When I got the ping, I

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hurriedly picked him up, my mouth bursting with the questions

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I had bottled up. I tried to coach the topics calmly.

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I asked him why they lived apart, why didn't just

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live in the town, and why they only see each

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other for such a small window each day. I did

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so as politely as possible, who was only met with

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a silence. I was all too familiar with. When I

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got home, I had two amounts for the trips, a

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fifty percent tip on the way there and only thirty

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percent for the way back, a curious hint about how

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he wanted things. On the plus side, I was able

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to start living how I wanted. The first thing I

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reinvested in was a new car. I was spending so

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much on fuel, so to get something more economical was

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basically an investment, though the luxury extras were me treating myself.

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Then I felt too scruffy to be seen in the thing,

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so I even got some nice new clothes, stand out

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brands that would make it look like I didn't just

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steal the car from the lot. It took a good

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few months before he spoke again. I was scared my

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broken questions had offended him. But when he spoke, he

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dropped some heavy information, answering my questions as if i'd

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only just ask them. The reason we don't live together

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is because she died, he said, dejectedly. My heart sank.

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This answered a surprising amount of my questions. The whole

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bizarre routine started to make more sense. It was a

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saddening twist of the tail that was being drip fed

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to me. He told me stories of their time together,

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that she was with him from rags to riches, and

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that despite making something out of himself, he said that

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he cannot share the fruits of their labor together. This

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explained why he frivously spent on ubers every weekday just

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to keep up this ritual. This time, he talked almost

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the entire four hour right there. He shared personal details

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about their relationship, the ups and downs, the things he

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didn't realize he'd miss until she was gone. It was

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touching and really progressed me emotionally for when I finally

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meet someone worth sharing my life with. When he exited

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the car, he shared one piece of final wisdom. It's

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the routines that matter. Make sure you keep up a

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good routine. This way you never forget what happened. It

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was cryptic enough to apply to many things. I chose

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to hold on to it and to hopefully fully know

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the meaning of this proverb. The ride back was silent,

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but in a good way, resting in the good energy

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of openness. I got home to a fifty percent tip

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both ways, and I felt content that we finally had

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a rapport. The day after I asked him more questions

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about his wife. He seemed more animated and alive when

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talking about her. So I hoped that I could breathe

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some new sense of purpose for him, Even if it

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meant I would lose out on this amazing uber gig,

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I would feel content to see him real live his life. However,

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when I looked back in the rear view mirror, he

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was looking out the window, silent like before. I tried

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to probe once more, but we were back to our

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usual routine. The following weeks were the same. Each time

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I thought I had made enough progress to get to

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know him, he closed up. It was only when I

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tried to start conversation, so I noted that it always

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had to be him, no exception. So I waited, and

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eventually the day came when the silence was once again broken.

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One week from now will be the anniversary, he muttered.

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My heart sank, but this was just the beginning of

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the heart wrenching details. He told me how things happened.

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From his perspective, He said they went to the seaside

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town for a few days, booked a nice hotel and

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planned to spend a few days there just to relax.

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It was the start of autumn, but it was also

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their anniversary. They didn't care that it would be cold

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and that it would basically be a ghost town. They

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just wanted to share their special day together in the

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place that meant the most to them. This touching scenario

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was ripped from my gut as he explained what actually happened.

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They were walking near the pier. It was early afternoon,

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broad daylight when he lost sight of her or distracted

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for only a moment. There weren't many people around and

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not many places she could have gone. Yet despite this,

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he couldn't find her. Afterwards, he looked nearby, and when

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that didn't work, he checked places they usually went to.

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He even went back to the hotel to see if

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she had maybe forgotten something, and went back empty. He

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couldn't believe she had just vanished, so he waited around

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spots they frequented, occasionally switching locations the sea if she'd

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be there. When it started getting dark, he reluctantly called

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the police to file a report. He was assured she

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was probably lost, not being local on all, and that

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this happened often, so they sent out a few search

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parties to check around. But days went by and nothing

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was found. It was only after a week that she

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was found, and hearing it was like a punch in

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the gut. She was found floating below the pier. Despite

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the scenario that she had made be fallen in, evidence

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showed she was abducted and brought back there. Vowl play

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was immediately ruled in the sea washed away all forensics,

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so it was already a cold case. I was devastated

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hearing this, yet despite this, he held a hopeful smile,

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maybe clinging on to the cherished memories rather than the grim.

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Ending for this story was followed by a request. The

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next Wednesday was going to be their anniversary date. He

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asked that I be around to make sure I could

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take him to the seaside town without hesitation. I wholeheartedly agreed.

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I even offered my personal number in case something happened,

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but he politely declined. The ride home was silent, but

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with an air of solemn optimism, A hope lingered in

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the air. No words were exchanged, nor did they need

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to be. I now felt I was doing something bigger

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than myself, a duty to the calmer of the universe.

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When I got home, I checked the app and was

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hit with an eighty percent tip both ways, a hint

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that said to make sure I was ready on Wednesday,

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and I was. When I picked him up, I was surprised.

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From the cocoon of a dreary middle aged man emerged

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the dapper gentleman. He wore an elegant, long black pea

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coat over a suit that wasn't too formal but definitely

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stood out. The day was chilly, so his hands sat

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in nice, fur lined leather gloves. This was the sharpest

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contrast from what I'd seen in the many months I'd

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been with him. I felt like an underdressed chauffeur rather

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than an uber driver. I smiled without a chauffeur hat

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to tip, and proceeded to the town. The silence was pleasant,

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this time around, lingering with a sense of hope and wonder.

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I fully believed that he was there to enjoy the

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memories of his time with his departed wife, and I

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smiled the whole ride, hoping he got what he wanted

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from this endeavor. This time, he spoke on the way back,

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I did it. He was exactly like before, He yelled animatedly.

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He described doing everything like he remembered that it was

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just like before, and that he felt a strong connection

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to her. Even said he might be able to move on,

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which stung a little the thought that this routine could

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come to an end, But he topped it off with

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a feeling that this routine made him too happy, and

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that for the foreseeable future this will continue. When I

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got home, I was met with his biggest tip yet,

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one hundred percent. I was happy, he was happy. It

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was the best day of my life, living it vicariously

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through this interesting man I had became acquainted with. The

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rest of the week was silent bliss. Each day he'd

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tip a hundred percent both ways, his new standard for

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my dedication to his routine. I relaxed on the week end,

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sitting back in a nice restaurant, a multiple course meal

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lined up, a far cry from the ramen I had

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become accustomed to many months ago. I had started living

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my life not just because of the generous source of income,

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but to strive to be more like my inspirational passenger.

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Until my phone dinged with a notification. It was the

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week end, so it couldn't be uber, and when I checked,

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I saw it was a news notification. I'd spent so

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much time in the seaside town that I sometimes got

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news notifications from the area my phone's location, thinking I

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reside there. It was an emergency notification about a missing person.

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The picture looked familiar, yet it was someone I'd never

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seen before. Middle aged, full blonde hair and a button nose,

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slender but not too slim. It wasn't someone I'd seen before,

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but it was someone I remember having imagined almost exactly

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how the man described his late wife. The details chilled me.

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She went missing in the early afternoon near the pier.

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No other details were known, just that they were still

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currently looking for a whereabouts. My heart sank. He didn't

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just say the day went well. He said it went

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exactly like before. It didn't take a genius to piece

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together what might have happened. He was a man of routine,

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and I guess this constituted as his new ritual. But

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as I looked at the food in front of me,

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the new car outside, and the nice clothes I could

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finally afford, I couldn't bring myself to turn him in.