Rideshare Stories from New Year’s Eve 2022
First, Happy New Year! New Year’s eve is usually one of the most profitable days of the year. Some holidays are not very profitable, but New Year’s Eve and Halloween are two of the most profitable nights of the year.
This year was no exception. I actually made about as much as I have ever made in a single day, but it does come with some risks. It is a night where many people are out drinking, including people that don’t drink on a regular basis, or at least, don’t get drunk on a regular basis. But all of my rides this New Year’s Eve went very well, except for the very last one, but we will get to that in a minute.
Uber did not have any weekend bonus this year, only a 4 ($10) and 5 ($45) ride bonus from 6 to 11pm and a 3 ($15) and 5 ($60) ride bonus from 11pm to 4am. Of course, I hit all of those bonuses, since I don’t like passing up free money.
My day started off a little annoying with picking up a guy from the Greyhound bus station downtown. His dropoff was the East Point MARTA station near the airport, about 20 minutes away. We get there and he says that this is the wrong place and he needs to go to Woodrow Park. I said that I was not familiar with a Woodrow park, but did he have an address or an area of town. He says that he has an address that his mother just sent to him. So, we update the trip and get on our way.
This trip takes us into Buckhead and takes about 30 minutes. We get there and there is no park. I said, “Ok, give me all the details you have about where you are supposed to meet your mother.” He then says, I need to go to Woodrow park. I said, “So, W-O-O-D-R-O-W.” He says, “No that is not how you spell it.” I wait patiently. He says nothing. Finally I say, “Ok, then how DO you spell it?” He then pronounces it perfectly as Woodruff park. I am like, “Ok, got it Woodruff Park, not Woodrow Park. That is in downtown near Centennial Olympic Park.” He then says, “Yes, it is supposed to be downtown, near GSU [Georgia State University].” I tell him that I know exactly where that is and that it is only about 5 minutes from where I picked him up originally. He was very nice and tipped me later. It amazes me how many people get into an Uber, have no idea where they are going, and will not communicate clearly with you.
There was also the Peach Bowl here in Atlanta that night, so picked up lots of Georgia fans and few Ohio State fans. I picked up one group of Georgia fans all wearing their Georgia shirts and the conversation went like this:
Me: Are you from out of town?
Them: Yes, we are from Savannah and are here for the game.
Me: What game?
Them: The Georgia game.
Me: Oh, is there a basketball game.
Them: No, it is the football game.
Me: Oh, a soccer match?
Them: (confused) No, football. Football.
Somtimes, you just have to try to keep yourself entertained.
Later that night, I pulled up to a high rise apartment building in Buckhead and 3 very beautiful tall blonde women came out and got into the car. They were from Denmark and wanted to know if we did fireworks here in the states for New Year’s Eve. I told them yes, that there would probably be some fireworks later. They were very happy about this. I also told them that they would probably hear some gunshots as well. They were not so happy about that. But it was true.
By the time it reached 2am, I had hit all the bonuses, except the last one. I only had 1 more ride to go to hit the final bonus which would be $60, but the problem was that I had been driving for 12 hours and only had 5 minutes before the system would log me off for 6 hours. I got a ride with 3 minutes to spare with a pickup in East Atlanta. I got there and could not find the passenger. Great.. if I cancelled the ride then I would be over my 12 hours and would lose the $60 bonus. I called the guy and he was super drunk. Crap! And could not explain to me, where he was. Double Crap!
Finally, I see a guy talking on his phone and I am like are you wearing _______. I could see him looking down at his shirt and saying yes. So, I pulled over and he got in. It was only a 5 minute ride, and he could talk, so I thought it would be ok. But I still asked him if he felt sick at all and if so I had a barf bag in the back of the seat in front of him. He said he was ok. But just .5 miles from his dropoff, he lets the window down and starts puking out the window. Triple Crap! Luckily, he did manage to get all of it outside the car. He was very apologetic and promised he would send me a big tip. Of course, he did not. People who say they will tip you, rarely ever tip you. After I completed the drive, the Uber app logged me off and I went to a gas station, cleaned off the outside of the car, and went home.
