Returning from the suburbs, I got into an uber car hoping the driver would be reasonable because I anticipated a 20-30 minute trip back to the city. It would have been ideal to have a quiet ride but that was not in the cards.
"I haven't lived in this country very long," he said. "But today was the limit. I was invited to a divorce party!"
"Oh?" I asked.
"In my country you don't go to divorce parties! Divorce is shameful - you hide this kind of news as much as possible!"
But he soon started laughing boisterously and I joined in.
"And I was fired from my first job here in America because I refused to sell condoms to a woman," he said. "In my country, women don't buy such things!"
"So what happened?"
"The woman called for the manager and he sold them to her. But I just couldn't do it. So I lost my job."
Again he started laughing almost uncontrollably. "This is one crazy country!"
"So are you thinking about going back home, leaving America?"
"No! Of course not!" And he described how much fun it is to relay stories of life in America to his friends and family at home.
But as I exited his car at the end of the trip, he still wasn't sure if he would go to the divorce party. I suggested that if he did, it might make one great story to tell people back home.
He turned fully around in his seat to look at me while nodding vigorously, laughing uproariously, and then he waved and wished me a good evening.