Will the REAL Scott Benson Please Stand Up

You may find this hard to believe, but there is a real-life “Scott” in my world. He is loosely modeled after a real person, and many of the situations Scott faces my friend has been through, except the illegal stuff. Or, have I been sworn to secrecy?

Ultimately, the story is a figment of my imagination, but some things that we see in life are way stranger than fiction. Over nearly a decade, a good friend and I have shared many of the bizarre stories and circumstances we’ve been through.

Then we started driving rideshare together. We’d swap stories with each other, as well as with other drivers. From what we’ve both heard, we tend to get a much higher ratio of crazies than other drivers. Like, an insanely higher ratio.

However, we both believe that these uncommon circumstances create more adventure in life and tend to take things in stride. I’ve woven a series of his experiences, my experiences, and random imagined circumstances together in this series.

As a few of our mutual friends read The Rideshare Chronicles: Volume I, they would call me after certain chapters to ask me if he really did x, y, or z. My response? “What do you think?” It’s more fun to keep them guessing.

The narrative they gave our friend based on the story is hilarious to me. Some of them know some of the stories, but there is a ton of stuff that may or may not be based on some real life adventures. Some of our friends have known him way longer than me, when he was a hot-headed young man, which makes them question certain scenes even more.

One of the based on real life stories disturbed one of my beta readers. A few summers ago it was particularly hot with heatwave after heatwave. During that summer the air conditioning units went out in both his home and his small retail store. He was quite miserable during that summer. 

The beta reader advised that one of those scenarios should be removed because it just wasn’t believable, but loved some of the other stories that were completely made up. That made my friend and I laugh.

I chose to leave it in. I’m sure most people have heard of the saying, “When it rains, it pours,” right? That was one of those situations. Maybe we can’t all relate to that particular circumstance, but I’m sure most of us have experienced (or know someone who has) that has had some major obstacles stack up like that in “real” life.

As Scott goes through his rideshare journey he is faced with several scenarios and opportunities that many would find unsavory. We get to peek into his mind and see his internal battle as he weighs his needs, his wants, and his faltering morality. And, just like in real life, we get to judge him to cover up some of our own insecurities or things we’re unsettled with if we so choose.

What would you do if you were faced with tough choices, such as having no air conditioning in over 120 weather for a month or paying your bills? Would you give up your home? Your business? What would you tell your kids?

Many of the situations Scott finds himself in aren’t really that unbelievable if you are or ever have been a struggling single parent. The details might be different, but the sacrifices and option to choose between several bad choices is the same.

Which chapters do you think were inspired by my friend, versus which ones do you think are completely made up?