Love Is Blind. Uber Edition.

Please don’t judge me for what I am about to say.
I have friends who watch Love Is Blind.
You know, the show where grown adults sit in tiny pods, fall in love with a voice through a wall, propose after 36 hours, and then act shocked when things get weird in the real world?

Yeah. Those friends.
They discuss it like it’s a case study and send play-by-play texts during episodes.
They say things like,  She needs a therapist, not a fiancé.
And I would love to sit here and say I rise above all that. 
But I actually have a PhD in Reality TV Commentary.

I don’t watch love is blind. 
I study it.
There is no better way to observe the human condition than watching people propose through drywall and call it destiny.

So, last week in Charlotte, North Carolina, I decided to conduct what I now refer to as, Love Is Blind, Uber Edition.
On my way back to the airport, I slid directly behind the driver so I couldn’t see his face and committed to guessing his entire look based solely on our conversation.

Yes, I basically created my own DIY, non-romantic version of Love Is Blind.

For the next 20 minutes, I sat behind this mystery Uber driver having one of the best conversations I’ve had with a stranger in a long time.
Before I go any further, let me clarify for the people in the back, Terry and I just celebrated our 26th anniversary and he is alive and well.
This was a social experiment. Not an audition for Love is Blind, season ten.

Back to the Uber guy. 

He skipped straight to real conversation. Not much small talk. He was funny, smart, asked good questions, and actually cared about my answers. We went from How long have you been in Charlotte?  to  What’s the craziest thing life has taught you? in like five minutes. 
He told me stories about driving cross-country and his experience with coaching people through really hard seasons.

And I genuinely enjoyed every minute of it.   Not in a romantic way. Calm down, Bachelor Nation.
Purely human-to-human respect.

Based on our conversation, I thought, This man is probably mid to late 40s, former athlete turned entrepreneur turned Uber driver. Clean haircut. Maybe a button-down. Definitely someone who moisturizes. Definitely owns at least one pair of Lululemon joggers, and reads leadership books for fun.

Then we pull up to the airport and he gets out to grab my bag.
I finally see him.

And friends, let me tell you.
Long, white, straggly hair. 
Easily 70 something. 
Beard like he’d been mentoring Santa.
Full sleeve tattoos.
New Balance sneakers that had seen at least 12 presidential administrations.
He looked like someone who probably knows how to survive in the wilderness with just a pocketknife.

There is something powerful about hearing someone before seeing them.
When you remove the visual, you also remove the assumptions. 
You stop deciding who a person is based on age, style, status, or whatever box your brain tries to put them in. 
You just listen. 
You pay attention to what shaped them rather than what they’re wearing. 
And then, something unexpected happens.
You actually connect.

Contrary to what the world or social media may tell you, appearance is the least interesting thing about a human being. Their story is where the gold is.

What if we approached people the way Love Is Blind approaches relationships?Not by proposing on day two (please, no), but by being willing to stay in conversations long enough to get past, What do you do?   and into,   Who are you, really?

Every person carries depth.
Everyone has survived something, learned something, and carries something sacred.
And most of that is invisible at first glance.
Real connection comes from leaning in long enough to see the image of God in someone we might have otherwise overlooked.

When you listen longer than the world expects, people open up in ways the world never gets to see.
Walls come down and stories come out.
  Strangers become surprising gifts.

And that’s often how God works.
He sends the right people at the right moment, wrapped in the most unexpected packages. Divine appointments disguised as everyday conversations. 
Proof that He’s paying attention, and that even the most unexpected moments with unlikely people can carry the breakthrough you’ve been praying for.