uber wouldn't let me say no

“Had lunch... and... are you in-to hik-ing?” Mark (4.55) struggled to ask.

Mark and his friend Sasha came down to Ithaca for a day trip and waited hours for a ride back to their hotel in Syracuse, 54 miles away. I declined Uber’s $50 offers but couldn’t decline the ride once Uber raised the fare to $80.

Sasha’s phone glowed. Mark did the talking. He asked me detailed questions about Cornell’s agricultural degree programs and whether it was a party school. I pointed out the dairy farms glowing bright on the dark hills and said the students would wake up in 30 minutes, around 10:00 p.m.

They’re in town from the city for the New York State Fair. Mark wanted to discuss details with me about Uber driving, Upstate New York, and the university system, “like a pub-lic... pri-vate... part-ner-sh-ip.” He won ribbons at the fair.

“I think so,” I said, looking back.

Sasha scrolled.

A phone rang, the original iPhone ringtone. Mark answered, “He-llo.”

“This is Bob from Diamond Peak transportation,” said the man on speaker. Sasha leaned over and reassured Mark that he could just hang up, because they have a ride. Mark understood and hung up on the man mid-sentence.

Mark went back to questions. Me to the highway and answers. And Sasha went back to his phone.