OCD: Organizing Confusing Dominoes

Moments of madness in the life of a rideshare driver

Playing Dominoes

Its funny how trips in a night drop like dominoes, one after another in succession, seemingly related by threads of conversation stringing together one ride to the next. The parallels in conversation are perhaps dictated by the latest trending topics or inspired by the musical ambiance of the evening. This feeling of synchronistic progression is perhaps most common on weekends, when ride requests are plentiful, consecutive and thus blend together, with little lapse in between for thought or reflection, mish-mashing the night’s experience into one whole never-ending ride.

When unusual and astonishing events unfold in such rapid succession, the feeling can be overwhelming and disorienting — suggesting alternate forces in play. On this night, I had two consecutive jaw-dropping rides, seemingly totally unrelated to each other aside from the flammable contents in which they were soaked. These were stories inebriated by alcohol with characters, content, and conflict counting down into emotional combustion. Ash to ash, dust to dust.

The residue left behind by the fire and fury of my passengers dissipates quickly in my world as I must continue on down the road to my next passenger. Ashes vanishing off the tip of my cigarette blowing in the tailwind, mixed with the dust kicked up off the road in a trail of exhaust.