Rideshare Stories for the Week of Jan 1, 2023
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My very first ride was with a crazy person, but luckily the rest of the week went well.
Ride 1: I picked up my first passenger in the afternoon and he seemed normal enough. We started with the usual pleasantries, but then he asked, “So, are you a capitalist or socialist?” Such stark questions usually do not usually bode well for fruitful conversations, but I bit. I said that I was not one or the other and that I believed that both were necessary for a well-balanced society and that the balance between the two could be debated, but that I do not feel that a choice has to be made 100% one way or the other.
Well, this was not the answer he was looking. I can’t remember the exact order, but this is pretty much his exact response (and yes, I am leaving out punctuation, because that is how he talked, just one stream with no pauses), “Well then you are a puppet of the latin system created by the Pope in the Vatican all of our troubles come from the fact that our educational system is based on latin this is not what our founding father wanted who were all freemasons which made them worshipers of seven levels of satan they don’t want us to know the truth which is why they make fun of astrology and numerology which teaches us the truth through mathematics nancy pelosi did nothing and was a joke just like all these votes for speaker this week which shows how the numbers work if we just pay attention to them but that is not what they want they just want us to be sheep that go to school and work and ignore the signs and numbers that Jesus tried to explain to us.”
At this point, we arrive at his destination and I say, “Ok we are here, have a nice day.” He exists the car.
Ride 2: I picked up a nice young man that had on an EMT uniform. He was getting off from work. He started asking me about rideshare driving and saying he was considering it. I told him that I did enjoy it and that I got to help people, but that it was nothing to the way he probably got to help people. He literally saves lives on a daily basis. He said he did enjoy that part of the job, but that it could get messy and the poverty and suffering that he saw on a daily basis was difficult to handle. I told him that I could imagine it was.
I told him that while rideshare driving might be easier, it probably would not pay as well. So then we had a frank conversation about how much each of us made. While neither of us make much money, I was surprised that actually did make less than me. He said he only makes about $17 per hour. That blows my mind, and is a real indictment of our society. How is it possible that someone that literally saves peoples lives and has to enter into all kinds of dangerous situations, makes so little?
And if I were to have an emergency and an EMT had to be called, I could imagine that it could take me months or years to pay that cost off, but yet the EMTs make that little? Where is that money going? This country disgusts me sometimes.
Ride 3: Around midnight on Saturday, I picked up three very drunk older women in Alpharetta and gave them a drive to Cummings 30 minutes north. One of the women was very annoying. I did not mind the questions but she kept leaning forward trying to get into my face and touching my shoulders. Her friends kept trying to get her to lean back and stop touching, but she was too drunk (and entitled) to pay them any attention. I was glad to drop them off, but they were very thankful for the ride. When I did drop them off, they could not find one of their coats and searched back seat. I looked as well, but they must have left it at the restaurant.
I then got back on the road headed south to Atlanta. I did not get any rides on the way a back and after about 30 minutes, I pulled at a gas station. When I got back into the car I hear a phone ringing. CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! I found the phone under the passenger seat and answered it. I was one of the women for the last ride. So, I had to turn around and drive 30 minutes back to bring them their phone. They were very thankful and tipped me $50, but frankly it was not worth it. I had already driven 30 minutes, then 30 minutes back to them, and by then it was very late and I was 45 minutes from home. Oh well. That is how it goes sometimes.
These were really the only rides of any significance. And with the exception of the first ride, all were with really nice people. It was also a very slow week. I had to wait several minutes between rides for most the week, which is strange. There were not many events going on in the city this weekend, and perhaps people were tired from partying last weekend.
I usually drive for Uber, but next week, I will be driving for Lyft. Why? I have not driven for Lyft in about a year, and this weekend, they sent me a message saying that if I did 60 rides for them in the next two weeks, they would pay a bonus of $700. Ok, done!
