Our Universal Language in Tune

A story from rideshare driving about people coming together

I was driving in Los Angeles last December feeling full of holiday spirit thanks to the decorations my daughter had hung in the car earlier that day. I put on some of my favorite yuletide music. Shortly thereafter, I was swept up and out of the driver’s seat and thrust into the middle of the London Philharmonic Symphony’s string section somewhere between the violins and cellos. Cruising through the nearly empty downtown caverns of Los Angeles on a mundane Monday night with Handel’s “Messiah” on full blast, I received a request for a pool ride (a ride open to additional passengers throughout the duration of the trip and therefore offering the possibility of an impromptu holiday party).

I pulled my car to a rest at a corner downtown and waited for my rider. The choruses of “Hallelujah” blasting from my stereo were an odd juxtaposition amidst the wanderings of the scattered homeless and drunk pedestrians zig-zagging the downtown LA sidewalks after midnight. A glowing woman who appeared to be music in motion danced up to my car and gracefully took her seat in the back, amidst the horn section in the middle of this beautiful oratorio.

“This is one of my favorite pieces of holiday music,” I explained in order to somewhat justify the unreasonable volume of my stereo. I was secretly hoping to gain her permission to leave the symphony on full blast.