Arnon Grunberg

Birthday

Why not?

This afternoon I used uberpool. Usually there is no other rider, but today the driver told me that I was going to share my cab with a woman named Melissa.
The driver was overweight and he claimed that he wasn’t an uber driver because he needed the money; he was a driver because he needed the entertainment.
“Why not?” I said.
What else is there to say to somebody who claims that he is looking for entertainment while driving you through the city?
Before we picked up Melissa he said: “Hopefully we’ll get lucky.”
Melissa turned out to be a young woman with a strong perfume. She was reading Facebook on her phone as if Facebook was a page turner.
“Are you going to a business dinner?” the driver asked Melissa.
“It’s my birthday,” Melissa answered.
“21?” the driver wanted to know.
“24,” Melissa said.
Then the driver told her that it was his birthday five days ago and Melissa wished him a belated happy birthday while she was still flipping through Facebook on her phone.
On 14th and 8th I left the driver and Melissa alone, especially the driver appeared to be happy about me getting out of his car.

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