Behold, a nice thing for once!
Poet and playwright Inua Ellams went viral on Sunday for sharing the true tale of a love that transcended all barriers: geographic, linguistic, cultural, and technological. Ellams was on his way home from his sister's wedding when he bonded with his Uber driver and got to celebrate a great love story for the second time that night.
So, heading home after my sister's traditional wedding yesterday, I had a good convo with the Uber driver.
— The Typo King (@InuaEllams) May 7, 2017
Coz of my garms, he asked if I was a Christian or a Muslim.
— The Typo King (@InuaEllams) May 7, 2017
After explaining my father was a Muslim when he married my Christian mum...
He excitedly told me his wife was a Christian and he a Muslim like my parents. 😂😂 He couldn't stop talking after that.
— The Typo King (@InuaEllams) May 7, 2017
He is a chef, drives to calm his nerves after a full day of kitchen pressure. He heads up the pizza section where he works.
— The Typo King (@InuaEllams) May 7, 2017
He learnt to drive in 2012 and explores much of England with his wife – who loves to travel he said, saves all spare cash for that.
— The Typo King (@InuaEllams) May 7, 2017
They regular just get in the car and go, Cotswold, Dover, Kent, Cornwall.
— The Typo King (@InuaEllams) May 7, 2017
I ask how they met, he starts laughing…
Now here's where it gets even better.
He says they got married 9 months after they met. He proposed immediately and she laughed… at first.
— The Typo King (@InuaEllams) May 7, 2017
But when she left London and went back home, they carried on talking… came back to visit him a few times, then just stayed.
— The Typo King (@InuaEllams) May 7, 2017
He was Pakistani. I asked if his parents met his wife before they married. He said only Skype but they trusted him & what they saw of her.
— The Typo King (@InuaEllams) May 7, 2017
… so didn’t get in their way.
— The Typo King (@InuaEllams) May 7, 2017
I was tearing up in the back.
It was only after their marriage that she flew back to visit his family.
He is 30, they got married 5 years ago. #yunglove
— The Typo King (@InuaEllams) May 7, 2017
I foolishly assumed his wife was Pakistani too. Dunno why.
She is Italian. Catholic.
They way his smile deepened when he talked about her. Sheesh. 😍
— The Typo King (@InuaEllams) May 7, 2017
Kept on turning round to look at me!
— The Typo King (@InuaEllams) May 7, 2017
He said she spoke 6 languages: Italian, English, Chinese, Spanish, French and Urdu - his language.
They moved to Italy after they got married, so he learnt Italian, they speak mostly english to each other, but mixed with Italian & Urdu.
— The Typo King (@InuaEllams) May 7, 2017
I fully brained spasmed in the back seat trying to imagine the levels of intimacy, in-jokes & knowing locked in their particular lexicon.
— The Typo King (@InuaEllams) May 7, 2017
He talked about having kids and their intention to teach them all their tongues, laughing about how supple their minds would become.
— The Typo King (@InuaEllams) May 7, 2017
I think what I’m trying to say is that we live in beautiful complex times.
— The Typo King (@InuaEllams) May 7, 2017
Despite rising nationalism and nativism…
.@Uber…God bless Google Translate, Face Time, Airplanes, Language Schools, Pizzerias, Dreamers, The Cotswold, Night-Time-Drives and Us…
— The Typo King (@InuaEllams) May 7, 2017
My @Uber driver was a Pakistani Muslim Pizza chef, who married a 6-language-speaking Italian Catholic woman and they fell in love on Skype.
— The Typo King (@InuaEllams) May 7, 2017
.@Uber…by being who we are, loving who we love, we will blur the boundaries of nationhood and cultures, deepening our humanity, infinitely richer.
— The Typo King (@InuaEllams) May 7, 2017
.@Uber They just did that.
— The Typo King (@InuaEllams) May 7, 2017
Imagine their kids! Argghh!#thaswassup.
Twitter cheered for the lovely story.
Oh man. It's a better, real version of Colin Firth's plot arc in Love Actually.
Those are some lucky future children.