Is your name Sandy?

Sandeep doesn’t know I’m writing a story about him. Honestly I wasn’t sure if I would. I was having such a hard time understanding him with his accent and vice versa! After we talked for a while, we both fell asleep. Exhausted.

I thought he said his name was Sandy until he spelled it for me. Even then, I had to type it in my phone to make sure it was correct. I did this with a few words. Except with words I had said that he had no idea what I was saying. I could say he had a deep accent but the fact is, so do I.

I told him he talked fast, people in the south talk slow and he had to slow down for me to catch up. We laughed.

Sandeep is from India but living in Dubai for the past 10 years with his wife and 15 year old son. He is an operations manager for a manufacturing company. They manufacture the foam insulation that is placed around pipes. He travels all over the world. He is setting up a plant in SC and will stay to work for a couple of months. I introduced him to the word “Y’all” and told him it would come in handy in the south!

I thought I had a long day but he had been traveling for close to 24 hours…. 14 hour flight from Dubai, two delays in NYC and then another hour drive after landing in Greenville.

After departing the plane, I told him not to work too hard and we parted ways. When I got to baggage claim, there was a lady holding a sign, “Sandeep ___”. I told her he was right behind me.

I called for an Uber and Eddie picked me up. Eddie moved to Greenville, SC from Buffalo, NY with his wife and works part time as an Uber driver at night. He’s a night owl. Him and his wife raise their nephew but are looking forward to having children of their own. He was a nice guy and let me ride in the front turning the AC down for me. He got me where I needed to be…. safe and sound.

Although my mama told me not to talk to strangers before I left, I just couldn’t help myself!