Preparing to leave town for a handful of days, I decided to get out and drive extensively this week. Of course I think I’ve used and abused my phone so much that it’s been acting up lately. But it’s been a unique week for rideshare. This week I’ve had a few great conversations and learned some unique things about a few of my riders.
It all started Monday early afternoon, when I picked up the Tour Manager and the Merchandise Manager for Avenged Sevenfold. They were in town performing with Breaking Benjamin Monday night at the BOK Center, and they wanted to make a food run and had to run to the UPS Store to get some documents in the mail. Me being the music junkie that I am, I always like to engage members of bands and band crews in some conversation but not the same old crap they probably hear all the time from people about how cool it is and hey can I get some free stuff. They both looked wore out and I asked how the tour was going. They both said the same thing. They were ready to head home and were already feeling burnt out even though they just came off of a month where they barely toured at all. Both said they’ve been in the business too long and it was wearing on them. So we discussed how their job along with several others always seem glamorous from the outside and how fun it should be. But like the merch guy said, his job started at 8:30 that morning getting everything setup, more things ordered, paperwork taken care of and then he had about a two hour break before the show started and he had to supervise all of the booths. Not terribly glamorous.
Monday night I picked up a couple of boys from a local high school and were taking them to their respective homes. I assumed very quickly they were basketball players based on the time that I picked them up, their height and their conversation. It’s funny to hear kids today, especially boys, talk about girls and just hear what they say how they say it. It sounds so much different then me and my boys back in high school, but they still discuss the same things. and even though I didn’t understand all of their lingo or could even make out every word that they muttered, I understood what they were talking about and knew what they meant. After dropping the first boy off, I engaged the remaining boy and conversation and we started talking basketball of course. I asked him if he was going to be playing anywhere next year, and come to find out he leads the entire state of Oklahoma in scoring. He’s had several scholarship offers from smaller schools, but he is now getting letters and interest from bigger colleges. I asked his name and later looked up on the internet, and there he was averaging over 34 points per game.
Lastly, this afternoon I was requested to go to Tulsa University North Campus, which is essentially where the Petroleum Engineer Majors go because it’s a little plant that they have set up out there for actual and practical work. The girl was from China, and is in just her second semester. As I always do with International students, I asked her how Tulsa is treating her and how things were going. She said the first semester was kind of boring and there was a culture shock, but said she then found a new hobby that she was enjoying and doing every weekend. And she said it just like that, which had me wondering what is this great new hobby. Turns out it’s about the last thing I would have guessed this girl to be doing. Fishing. Who knew?
Its interesting how sometimes the reasons for rides cluster together so randomly. Coincidentally, I’ve taken two people to the hospital to see friends give birth to their first child recently. I’ve also taken two people to the Tulsa County Jail to pick up a friend who was released after posting bail. Always interesting stories, and it never ceases to amaze me how much people share inside the doors of an Uber.
Uber & Lyft: Everyone Has A Story 