I gave my first shared ride about three years ago, when Lyft came out with a “new program”. The idea is: A total stranger (me) picks up another total stranger who agrees (for a cheaper ride) to allow another total stranger headed in the same direction, to share the ride. Initially there were lots of glitches but eventually the algorithm smoothed it out. Now it is not unusual to have three strangers all sharing space in my red car 🚗.
Today ride 1 started with a guy headed down on Colorado Blvd to pick up new glasses. In minutes he tells me he is from the Bessemer neighborhood in Pueblo. “You went to Central High”? He did. “Did you have Dave Marquez as your Chicano Studies teacher”? “Yes I did, he was the best teacher I ever had. He taught me to walk with my head held high and claim my brown heritage. Here is the funny part, we always thought we were Spanish/Mexican. We all took the DNA test and we are Portuguese/Pueblo Indian”. We had a great time talking about our home town. And I have no doubt that my brother-in-law Dave was his best teacher ever.
The next rider in our car walked into our conversation. It turned out his family was from Kremling (east of Steamboat) and they have been in Colorado since the 1890’s. We then all began to talk about the Colorado that is long gone with the huge influx of folk from everywhere. The current rate of immigration to our area is 350 folk a day. We agreed that even our relatives came from somewhere else… and we also agreed that these folk are welcome if they check their attitude at the border.
We had a great time laughing at the folks who will pay over $200 a day to ski at Vail and think they have been to Colorado. We all three agreed that we would not want to live anywhere else, and that the best green chili in the world comes from Pueblo, the best peaches from Palisade, and the most arrogant sports fans are from Boston.
Onward and Upward,
Mark
Lyfting Me Up 