When Your Uber Driver Is Chatty….

I had a chatty Uber driver in Pittsburgh who got political fast in a ride that I was very thankful to complete. It was also a reminder for me about the importance of avoiding the overtly political, especially on this blog.

My Chatty Uber Driver

The guy started chatting with the usual stuff. Where you from? How long you here for? When he heard I was from California, he began attacking Governor Newsom (“that leftist fool”) and proclaimed the fires would never have occurred had Trump been in charge.

I was tired and not in the mood to chat politics.

But he went on, pivoting to how Trump was going to “drain the swamp” and how inflation would soon be over and other nations were going to “pay their fair share” and the war in Ukraine “with that crackpot un-elected TV star” would soon be over.

And so I turned the tables and shifted the conversation to Jesus Christ…which usually silences people very quickly! 

But not him…

A devout Roman Catholic (at least in terms of mass attendance), he was happy to engage…but even then it was more about him talking (attacking Pope Francis as being a “leftist” too) instead of a conversation.

So I just sat quietly, nodding occasionally just to be polite, but tuned out.

I mean, it wasn’t a Daddio situation, but sometimes I wish drivers would just take the hint.

And I recognize just like the country itself is highly divided, so is this blog. For politcal junkies like me, it is hard not to talk about the news…there is so much going on and yes, I do have an opnion, and yes, I do care and find it more importnat and worthy of discussion than lounges or upgrades or credit cards.

But maybe this just isn’t the right place…I recognize that. Even so, when the potical matter touchers on travel we may still talk about it, but I’ll try to reserve my editorials on the state of the nation for those who ask me first.

image: Uber