“The Struggle” and a Surprise!

In February of 2026 while driving for Uber, I received a ride request that made me smile before I even arrived. The name on my screen wasn’t John, Mike, or David. It simply said “The Struggle.”

Now after driving thousands of passengers, I’ve learned that unusual names usually come with interesting stories. So I was already curious.

When I pulled up, a friendly man climbed into the car. He told me he was from Cleveland, Ohio, and we quickly started talking about baseball. Like many people from Cleveland, he had been a big fan of the Cleveland Indians. We talked about how the team eventually changed its name to the Cleveland Guardians and how some longtime fans still preferred their old Indians shirts and jerseys.

After chatting for a bit, I finally asked the question, “So, I’ve got to know… why does my app say your name is The Struggle?”

He laughed and then explained that when he created his Facebook account years ago, it allowed him to choose almost any name he wanted. He had always loved the old Peanuts comic strips and the famous moment when Lucy van Pelt pulls the football away just as Charlie Brown tries to kick it.

Every time Charlie Brown falls flat on his back, Lucy shrugs and life goes on.

“That’s life,” my passenger said with a grin. “It’s a struggle!”

So he jokingly used “The Struggle” as his Facebook name. Later, when he signed up to ride with Uber, the system simply copied the same name. From then on, whenever he requested a ride, drivers would see the same mysterious name on their screen.

“The Struggle.”

As we arrived at his destination, I asked one last question.

“Okay,” I said. “What’s your real name?”

He replied, “Rico.”

For a moment I just stared at him.

“Wait a second… Rico? And how do you spell your name?”

When he spelled “RECO” I really got excited!

This was Reco Jolly, the very first person listed on my Ubernamez website! Nearly ten years I shared the story behind his unique name as my very first post!

In 2017 this was the photo from the very first Ubernamez post… me and Reco!

His father had once been nicknamed Rico because of the popular song Rico Suave. His older brother was known as Little Rico, and when my passenger was born, the family decided to make it official and name him Rico, but spelled RECO.

And the tradition didn’t stop there.

When Reco eventually had a son of his own, you guessed it—he named him Reco Junior.

Now here I was, almost a decade later, picking up the very same person again—but this time he appeared on my screen as “The Struggle.”

What started as a mysterious name turned into an unexpected reunion.

After thousands of rides, countless interesting passengers and hundreds of Ubernamez posts, my journey had somehow circled all the way back to the very first story I ever told.

And for a moment, sitting there behind the wheel, I couldn’t help but smile.

Sometimes life really is a struggle.

But every once in a while, it also gives you a wonderful déjà vu surprise.

Please welcome Reco back to the Ubernamez website!