There are many Filipino and Filipina Uber drivers here. Syempre the first question is Filipino ka? And bingo, it’s as if they’ve found their long lost confidante (me) or psychologist. They begin to narrate their life stories, pour out their problems and sama ng loob sa buhay, sa asawa, sa lahat. My mind is already having an overload of things to worry about, so I tend to forget a lot of things including what just happened a few hours ago.
Everyday, some stranger pours out his/her emotions and mabilis kong nalilimutan. How many times a day do I take the Uber, at least 4x. And half of those people share their life stories with me. I am amazed at how complicated life can be to some people. Indeed, every person has a story to tell. Some are sad, some are very sad, some are unbelievable. Even non-Filipinos are comfortable sharing their life stories with me, a complete stranger.
The following are real life stories.
Richard
The driver, Richard, came with a spanking Mercedes Benz E-class with panoramic moon roof. He said he also has an Escalade. His life story?
He is a single father, raising a daughter, now 12, since she was 3. He was married and was happy for a while but then he discovered that his wife was into drugs. He tried everything to stop her addiction. He sent her a couple of times to the rehabilitation center but it didn’t work. She still went back into drugs.
She was a bad mom according to him. She was not the doting or caring mom.
He filed for divorce and won custody of his daughter. He and his daughter moved to Las Vegas and he has devoted the past 8 years working two jobs to afford a good life for him and his daughter. He said his former wife never even bothered to contact their daughter. He showed me a photo of his daughter. I was already at my destination and he was still talking about his life. He drives the Uber from 9 am to 3 pm while his daughter is at school.
he picks her up at 4, brings her home, feed her, help her with her homework.
Then he goes to work at a hotel from 7 pm to 12 midnight.
I admire him for being such a responsible and loving father.
Annette
She and her first husband split only after a year. She left the Philippines and tried her luck in Lost Angeles because she has many relatives there. Her cousin paired her with a white American who became her husband and of course this gave her the green card and eventually her American citizenship. The guy was very supportive of her. He convinced her to take up nursing. They lived together for 15 years. She said he changed and became abusive. He subjected her to verbal abuse most especially when he’s drunk pero tiniis daw nya. He moved to Las Vegas because he found a better paying job, while his wife and step daughter stayed in Los Angeles. She found out that he was visiting Los Angeles every two weeks but he was staying with another girl, his former workmate. Annette filed for divorce and she too moved to Las Vegas.
She visited her hometown to attend their high school reunion and town fiesta. She and her first boyfriend met at the party and sparks flew. He was separated from his wife and Annette just got divorced from her second husband.
Annette brought her first love to Las Vegas to live with him and her adult son. She was very happy and fulfilled. Sex was good too according to her. After a year of bliss, he began talking about his daughter who is in the Philippines. He wanted to go home. He was growing worried about her because she is with her grandma and not with her mother. His former wife is living in with another man in the Philippines.
Annette was naturally opposed to his visiting the Philippines. They had a big argument and didn’t speak to each other for a few days. One day, Annette came home from work and noticed that his belongings were gone. He left and went back to the Philippines without saying goodbye to Annette. She felt devastated. She couldn’t work and couldn’t think. She said halos mamatay na daw sya. That happened in May 2016. And it took her a year before she stopped crying. Last June, his relatives called and asked Annette if she would be willing to take him back. He wanted to go back to Las Vegas. Syempre pumayag naman si Annette. And now he’s back. I told her he only needs free board and lodging and free sex and one day he’s going to leave her again.
Annette said she’s 47 and wants to get married again. She wants to find a guy who will truly love her and care for her. And she knows that this is not the guy.
Again, I was already at my destination and her kwento about life was still on. So I asked her to join me eat. Sama naman din sya. Syempre while I ate kare-kare, she continued her love life stories.
Sabi nya ang hirap daw mabuhay. “Hang on to life”. That’s what she said. How she wished her parents were still alive and she has siblings to keep her company.
This was her food, ang tagal nya naubos kasi nga engrossed sya sa kuwento ng love life nya.
Mar
His friends introduced him to a Filipina TNT. He fell in love, married her, petitioned her. They lived for 4 years till he discovered she was having a relationship with her white co-worker. She moved out of their house. He thought it would only be temporary. One day he went to the apartment she was staying at only to find out that the guy was already living in with her. He had no choice but to file for divorce.
Now, he thinks a mother of 4 young children is in love with her. She’s not his girlfriend yet and has only met her online. Allegedly her husband left her for another woman. Mar thinks she is in love with him. She wants to come to America with her children. Ayun-yon hindi dahil in-love sa kanya. How could she love someone she hasn’t met?
I tried to discourage him “wag na yun, napaka daming anak, ikaw pa ang magpapamilya sa kanila, dadalhin mo dito sa America, saan mo sila ititira, hindi pwede sa bahay ng mommy mo. Sobrang responsibilidad yan”. Mahal daw nya. Ano? Sa internet mo lang nakita. He’s going home daw in January so they could see each other in person. Naku, malabo yan. He kept on saying that she loves him. Kako paano mo nalaman? Lagi daw nagte-text. Nanay ko po. No one loves him dearly according to him. His first wife dropped him because the white guy was handsome and he is not. He said that’s also one of the reasons why he wants to go to the Philippines– to have a face surgery. He said he wants to look like Richard Gomez or Aga Muhlach. Nay ko.
Nico
He was born in Angeles City. His mom was an elementary teacher. He has 3 elder sisters and he is the youngest.
He was 16 years old when one night he saw his mom in their terrace crying. She was crying out loud according to him. He wondered what happened but he didn’t know how to approach his mom who was wailing.
He found out that his father had left them for another woman. He witnessed how devastated his mom was to the point that she wanted to end her life. His father never sent them money, even a centavo. He just totally ignored them.
After a year, his mom’s immigrant visa was granted and since he was still a minor, his mom was able to bring him when she emigrated to the US. That was 20 years ago and his mother never looked back. He got hold of his father’s cellphone number and he tried to communicate with him. He sent him text messages. One day, someone answered. Not his father, but his new wife.
She said she didn’t know her husband has a son living in the United States.
When he told his mother that story, she told him “bakit mo pa gustong makausap yung tatay mo, wala syang kwentang ama”.
Mar told me that his father actually had a first wife. He left his original wife for Mar’s mother. Hindi daw kasal ang mommy at daddy nya kasi nga may tunay na asawa ang daddy nya. Then he left Mar’s mother for this other woman. History repeated itself.
