01/11/2025
Last week, Uber charged me $85 for a ride in Baltimore that should’ve been $20, so I decided to give Lyft another try. Today, after checking out of my hotel in Oklahoma, I called a Lyft and was picked up by Mike, a guy driving a red F-150 work truck. The truck bed was full of tools and lumber, and when I got in, I took the passenger seat.
“How far to the airport?” I asked.
“Fifteen minutes,” he replied. “You in a hurry?”
“Not really. Are you?”
“Never.”
As we cruised down the highway in the slow lane, I asked Mike if carpentry was his main gig.
“Among other things,” he said.
“Jack of all trades?” I teased.
“Don’t know about that. Back in the seventies, I was a plumber’s helper. Then I worked in heating and air for a spell.”
“How was that?” I asked.
“Hot and cold,” he replied, deadpan.
I couldn’t tell if he was joking. His voice had a Midwestern drawl, and his face betrayed no expression.
“After that, I started carpentry—trim, then framing. Eventually, I built custom cabinets in rich people’s houses. Learned spiral staircases and furniture. Did pretty good.”
“Are you retired now?”
“Nope. These days, I build campers.”
“Campers?” I asked, intrigued.
“Small ones you can tow anywhere—teardrop trailers. Got real popular during the lockdowns. I build ’em by hand, one at a time.”
“And how’s the quality?”
“Pretty good,” he said.
“Got a website?”
“Sure. Gotta have a website these days.”
“What’s it called?”
“Mike’s Pretty Good Campers.”
I paused. “Your company is called Mike’s Pretty Good Campers?”
“I like to manage expectations,” he said.
“Under promise, over deliver?”
“Exactly.”
“Is that what you were doing before picking me up?” I asked.
“Yup. But I got frustrated. And I don’t like to work frustrated. So I step away.”
“To drive strangers to the airport?”
“Never too frustrated to drive,” Mike said. “Besides, we ain’t strangers no more, are we?”
“No,” I said. “We’re not.”
As we neared the airport, I asked if he’d head back to the shop after dropping me off.
“Ain’t decided yet. Guess I’ll see how I feel in a few minutes.”
Before getting out, I said, “If I like your website, do you mind if I share it on Facebook? I’ve got a few followers who might be in the market for a pretty good camper built by a quasi-retired carpenter who drives for Lyft when he’s frustrated.”
“Can’t hurt,” Mike said. “Once people see these trailers, they fall in love. There’s even conventions for teardrop owners. Thousands show up—you wouldn’t believe how they decorate ’em.”
“Mike,” I said, “I’ll believe just about anything these days.”
At the curb, he unloaded my bags and asked, “Have I driven you before? You look familiar.”
“I don’t think so. I’d remember,” I said. “Thanks for the lift.”
“Was it okay?”
“It was a pretty good lift,” I replied.
Somewhere behind his mustache, I think Mike smiled. I walked into Will Rogers Airport, boarded my flight, and immediately searched to see if there was actually a website called Mike’s Pretty Good Campers.
Credit to respective owner Mike Rowe
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