Not long ago in Texas, USA, an Uber driver had a serendipitous encounter with an old friend he hadn’t seen in 20 years. The emotional moment when the two recognized each other touched the hearts of millions of netizens.
One day, Uber driver Danny Blanton from Texas found himself in an area where he rarely picked up passengers. After dropping off a passenger at their destination, he was about to call it a day after one more ride.
To his astonishment, the final passenger turned out to be his long-lost friend John Johnson. Initially, neither recognized each other, but after a polite exchange, John Johnson sitting in the back suddenly stopped and earnestly said to Blanton, “I know you.”
Blanton immediately turned to look at him, and the excitement and joy of seeing his long-lost friend were evident on his face.
Blanton told Epoch Times, “The chances of us meeting were so low. Over the years, I’ve never picked up anyone I knew, and today I encountered a friend from a long time ago.”
He doesn’t believe it was a coincidence. “How is this possible?” he said. “We both believe that it must be God’s will that brought us together.”
Blanton has had a diverse career path, working as a security guard, bartender, CNC machinist, 3D printing artisan, and of course, a taxi driver.
The first time he met Johnson was while working at a club in Dallas, Texas, where he was a bartender, and Johnson was a security supervisor. Blanton described the club’s staff as “family,” taking care of each other and cherishing the good times they worked together. He especially enjoyed working with Johnson because their personalities were very similar.
“Even though we weren’t wealthy, we always did our best to help others,” Blanton said.
Later, Blanton had to leave the job he loved to take care of his young son.
Due to limited communication at the time, Blanton lost contact with Johnson after leaving the club, and many years passed in a blink of an eye. But it seemed fate had already prepared a surprise for this pair of friends.
Twenty years later, they met again by chance. The emotional and heartwarming reunion of Blanton and Johnson quickly gained popularity online with their delightful interaction captured on video.
“I uploaded a part of the footage from the dashboard camera to my social media platform for a few friends to see,” Blanton said. “I rarely post videos online, but I noticed that the views reached 2,000 within two hours. Within four hours, that number nearly doubled. And six hours later, the views skyrocketed to 4.2 million.”
A commenter said, “I love these brothers. You can see all the old memories flooding back to them.”
Another netizen remarked, “Danny, we want to see the full video! We haven’t laughed enough yet!”
After reestablishing contact, these friends are now making an effort to spend more time together.
Blanton told this publication that they recently met at a local restaurant to thank everyone for their support and take photos, even though their busy jobs and lives make it challenging to meet, they firmly believe that the situation of “long-lost” won’t happen again.