I requested for a ride to the mall on Uber yesterday - my driver was a middle-aged Ethiopian man, who moved to the U.S. with his wife and three kids 16 years ago. I always like to talk with other people and know about their lives. So, while I talked with the Ethiopian gentleman yesterday I learned that he is actually a teacher, who teaches at a local medical institute! I did not know quite understand the name of the institute though, and I was kind of shy to ask again. Anyway, he said he is working for Uber as school is closed for summer - this is not his full-time job. I also found out that he spent one month, training at a hospital in Dhaka, my home city! This came as a total surprise - how many times in your life do you meet an Ethiopian-American who lived for a month in your home country?
On my way back from the mall, the driver, who gave me the ride, said he was a full-time graduate student and that he was driving for Uber to earn some extra money. He works at his university as a grad student but that is not enough as he has a wife, two kids and a mortgage to pay off. He is pursuing a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) as well as a Master of Public Health (MPH) at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. Yesterday was actually his second day as a Uber driver. He said he moved to the U.S. from Cameroon in 2001 and one day hopes to do malaria research in his home country, which recently entered into a $87 million agreement with The Global Fund for malaria prevention efforts.
Sometimes I think I talk too much but at other times, I feel happy about being so talkative and inquisitive because it's these qualities (!!!) of mine that have always helped me learn about other people, their struggles, hopes and dreams.
Moral of the write-up: In the U.S., when we think of taxi drivers, we often think of not-so-educated, not-so-fluent-in-English immigrants, who drive taxis because it pays more than many other odd jobs. Uber is perhaps changing the idea - today, highly educated professionals give rides to people in exchange for money because it's a good + easy + flexible way to earn some extra cash during tough times.
Comments