Why I Drove For Lyft & Uber On New Year’s Eve
New Year’s Eve has always been a tremendous blast for me. Last year though, I decided to change things up a bit.
On the final evening of 2013, my wife and I were new parents to our 2 week old daughter. We surely weren’t going to a night club, restaurant, or a bar. Even a friend’s place would be prohibitively challenging. So, we decided to stay in. I speculated it would be difficult for my wife to stay up past 10 PM, as she was still recovering from labor.
All evidence pointed to me being the only one remaining awake by the time the ball dropped. So what was I to do? Over the previous summer, I had driven for Lyft as a way to familiarize myself with my new resident city of San Francisco, and had a total blast. I thought, “Maybe I could do that for the big night?”
But how lame, right? I mean, New Year’s Eve is a global celebration, an unrestricted right of passage to usher in the new year while saying goodbye to the elapsed one. Surely, spending that time metaphorically chained to my steering wheel, barred from taking part in celebratory inebriation would be a bummer, right?
No, not really. It was actually pretty fun.
I drove from around 7 Pm — 11 PM, and the rush steadily increased, until a lull just before midnight. I decided to make a pit stop back at home, and was pleasantly surprised to find my wife still up. We celebrated the big moment together, and then she went off to slumber. Time for me to go make the big bucks by shuttling all the partiers home.
As expected, the hours after midnight were busy. Really busy. This meant Surge Pricing (Uber) & Prime Time (Lyft). Some trips, I was earning upwards of $100. It was crazy, exhilarating, and lucrative.
I felt like I was part of the energy. I was hopping from nightclub to party, from bar to restaurant, out and about in the city streets, taking it all in. Instead of being confined to just a single spot, I saw all the action.
The financial aspect certainly merits mention, too. When the dust settled the next morning, I had made about $500. Not bad, especially considering that in previous years, I had usually spent that amount in bottle service, bar tabs, and cab rides home. The $1,000 swing was certainly well received. Theoretically, I could take that thousand dollar difference and go on a 3 day trip to a tropical beach in Mexico. Totally worth it.
Last, but not least, my morning was sans hangover! No headache, no dizziness, no sickness. I had chosen to bring in bucks instead of throw down shots.
This year, things are a bit different. I’m no longer focused on driving, because I’ve got a startup to focus on. I’ll always have a special spot in my heart for my ridesharing days, though.
So, I invite you to ask yourself the following question during the next big holiday event:
“Am I certain that the use of my time, money, or energy is being spent in line with what I really want to do?”
Maybe try driving instead, and then use the money earned to do something that really matters.
If this convinced you it’s time to dawn the pink mustache, sign up to drive here. If Uber is more your style, get behind the wheel here.
If you found value in this, it would be tremendous if you scrolled down a little further and hit the “Recommend” button.
Greg Muender is the founder of Whttl, described as the “Kayak.com for startups.” Use it to find the startups that have launched in your ZIP code and #winatlife. Drop Greg a line via greg<at>whttl/dot/com. For further reading, check out the Official Whttl Blog.
