Ding! Uber’s app told me to pick up Bruno at a gas station in Ft. Walton Beach. I drove through the parking lot and saw no one. Maybe he’s at the hotel next door. Sometimes, the app can be a little off. Nobody was there. One more shot at the gas station. There he was, standing next to a company truck.
“I need to get a few items,” he said. He placed a few bags in the back of my car, including a pair of work boots. He then took off the dirt-caked pair he was wearing and carefully placed them on top of something to keep them from getting my car dirty.
He opened the front passenger-side door, looked in, and said, “Is ok if I sit here?”
“Of course,” I replied. “Heck, you can drive if you want!” (A little Uber humor.)
He looked at me, puzzled. “No, you drive!”
I started with a phrase I often use at the beginning of a ride. “Well, how’s your day going?”
“Not very good. I don’t speak very good English,” he said. “I speak Portuguese. I’m from Brazil. I don’t always know the words to use.”
So far, I could understand him. “So, what’s happening to make your day not good?”
He held his phone towards me. “I am being stalked by my ex-girlfriend in Brazil. She and her sister-in-law know everywhere I am because of this. I can’t stand it, and I don’t know how to stop it!”
He showed me a picture of his Amazon account. “They order things, and I have to cancel orders. It’s not big things. They do this to stalk me and cause me trouble.”
As we drove on Hwy 98, we passed several men pulling underground cables along the side of the road. He perked up.
“You see them? That’s my job! That’s what I do! I work hard for money!”
“It must be upsetting to work so hard and have someone take the money from you,” I said. “Have you talked to Amazon about getting it stopped?”
“I talked to Amazon, but they don’t stop it. I change the password on my phone, and my ex-girlfriend change it back. I talk to the police, and they say they can do nothing!”
I must admit. The language challenges begin to hinder our conversation. Several times, he used his phone’s translator app to clear up confusion. The story was getting fascinating. I told him I write blogs about my riders and that I’d like to write about his story. I told him I had changed the names and some details so that the people could not be easily identified.
“You can use my name, Bruno. I have more to tell you!”
He continued, “My ex-girlfriend accused me of stalking her. I never stalked her! She stalked me. The police arrested me and took me to jail for five days. I had to pay money, how you say, to get out, and I have to pay a lawyer. After five days, they let me out. They said there was no evidence. You are not stalking her, they said. But I’m being stalked!”
“I can’t sleep because this woman can see everywhere I go and everyone I’ve been with. She can see that I’m with you right now!”
I asked him if he had gone to his carrier (T-Mobile) to see if he could change his number or get help with keeping her out of his account. Again, the language factor confused both of us. He said it was his phone and that he was going to get a new phone. But he was concerned about losing the contacts in his phone.
“I can never go back to Brazil. I might never see my mother or my family again. If she accuses me of stalking her there, they could put me in jail. I still talk to long-time friends, and I don’t want to lose them.”
During our conversation, he stated that he was here legally, holding a green card or a work permit. He wants to become a legal citizen. He was exhausted from worrying about the stalking and craziness of his life. I felt that he was spending all his time looking backward. We talked about his future, but he kept referring to the past.
As we navigated the traffic, I tried to get him to focus on the present and the path ahead. To emphasize this, I stared into the rear-view mirror.
“You understand what would happen if I drove by only looking at this rear-view mirror. I would soon crash. You are spending your whole existence staring behind – at the past! Concentrate on things immediately ahead of you! When you get out of this car, go to the nearest T-Mobile store. They’re everywhere. Go in person and explain your problem. Take the next step, learn from the past, and move forward! Fix tomorrow. There are a million things that will happen between now and some future challenge.”
(Sorry…motivational speaking stuff. But it works for me!)
Bruno looked at me. “Do you mind if I take a picture of your mirror? I want it to remind me of what you said. I think you are right.”
We arrived at his home a few minutes later. He thanked me and promised he would take the advice. He signed up for my blog. I asked him to stay in touch with me through my website.
I told him I’d keep him in my prayers. I ask you to include him in yours.
***
(I hope you will stay in touch. I’ll be releasing my book on July 15th. The text and cover are finished. Now, we’re in the formatting process. We’re also updating the website. I’ll let you know as soon as I have more information. I appreciate your support!)
Thanks, and God Bless,
Tommy