One of the most popular questions I get asked is “So, what’s the craziest thing that’s ever happened?” Or “what’s your craziest story?” And quite honestly, I don’t have any real crazy ones. As I mentioned in the last blog, which was the first, I’ve had a couple of couples get into an argument or break up. I have had three people pass out in my car, two of which easily came to and exited my car on their own. There’s been no hanky-panky, not even any heavy-duty make out sessions between people. I once fit seven sorority sisters in my car one summer. I realize that goes against the law since I only have five seatbelts and we had a total of eight people in here, but they were going from a party to someone’s house under the influence, and somebody had to give them a ride. And it became a challenge, although I think every single one of them was 5 foot 4 and 110 pounds, so not quite the challenge one might expect.
Here’s a little more background on my driving history. First thing is I probably should really change the name of this blog, because I drive for Lyft as well. When I first started driving in Tulsa it was 80% Uber usage as compared to Lyft. Nowadays it’s easily 50/50, and might even be a bit more Lyft users than Uber users. So I’m contemplating being fair and adding a Lyft to the title of this blog, even though I named this unwritten blog a year-and-a-half ago. Between the two platforms, I’ve given over 9300 rides. Amazingly in all that time, I’ve only had one person throw up in my car, and in his defense he got the door open, he just couldn’t aim very well so he splattered the passenger door. I’ve had eight or nine people ask me to pull over so they can throw up, and my most recent close call I had three people in the backseat, two of which were on the verge and as soon as we reached their destination, both back doors flew open and they both face-planted into the yard to vomit their brains out. Real close call there.
The truth is it’s a low percentage of the people that I pick up that have been partying really hard. Even when I drive Friday nights and Saturday nights, the drinkers are still what I refer to as “responsibly drunk”. They’re not talking really loud, they aren’t obnoxious, and sseem to have their wits about them and quite honestly, we carry on a conversation much like I would with a sober person riding to the airport at 8 a.m.
There is a bar set to be able to use rideshare. Really hammered people might struggle because they have to actually utilize and operate a smartphone and the app. There have been many times I have rolled up to a bar responding to a request, and sat there for 4 minutes and then texted the rider. I generally wait 60 seconds and if I don’t get a response to a text then I call them. And these particular ones I’m referring to, they don’t answer and it goes straight to voicemail. I never know the real reason, but when it’s Friday night or Saturday night and it’s a bar, I assume they are probably really drunk and forgot they ordered one or couldn’t hear or feel their phone. Or, they’re making one last attempt to hook up before the night ends.
My favorite time to drive honestly is a 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. time frame. Generally when I tell people that they seemed shocked that there’s that much usage during that time. There’s times I’ll make more money on a Monday in that time frame than I will on a Friday night from 6 p.m. to midnight. People use Uber and Lyft to get to the airport, to get from the body shop or the service department where their car is getting worked on to home or work. There is a growing number of people, especially younger ones that live close enough to where they work that they don’t own a car anymore and they Uber or Lyft to and from work and to and from wherever they need to go. The truth is to have a reliable car, keep insurance on it, gas it up and to maintain it is at a minimum of $300 a month and could be as much as $400 to $500 depending upon what they drive. These people have found they might spend $150 to $200 a month on Uber or Lyft, so using it as opposed to owning the car is much cheaper. A few people miss the freedom of being able to go whenever they want whatever they want with the car in their garage or in the parking lot of their apartment. But, others enjoy having a driver 5 to 10 minutes away from their house to get wherever they need to go. I’ve actually met three specific people, two females and one male, who just admitted they were horrible drivers so they sold their cars and they just don’t drive anymore.
Truth is people use Uber and Lyft for so many reasons. I think the number one reason is to and from work. Number two would probably be to get to a bar or a house party or to an event like a concert or a party when they’re going to have a few drinks. The older generations utilize it now just to get around to their doctors appointments or to visit their kids and their grandkids or to just meet their friends at the restaurant on senior citizen day.
It’s actually created really responsible people as well. I’ve noticed that people that use rideshare to get to and from work have learned to buffer their time frame so they can be there on time. I’ve worked with people in the past that if they were supposed to be to work at 9am, as long as they were there by 9:05 they considered that on time. Now I can pick somebody up at 9:20 and work might only be 10 minutes away, but they don’t have to be there till 10 a.m. And they’ll say “hey I don’t want to be late”, “it’s okay to get there early, I can read on my phone or I’ve got a book or I’ve got my music.”
And when it comes to drinking, two and a half years ago a lot of people would say “hey taking an Uber is much better than getting another DUI”. That’s very true. Nowadays what I hear is, “we’re not going to drink much, but why even take a chance if we’re going to have two drinks”. And then there’s some people that just don’t like to drive to downtown Tulsa, and pay for parking, and then have to walk from parking to wherever they’re going, when they can pay us and keep their car safe in the garage and drop them off at the door and then if they choose to have a drink or two or five, it’s okay.
I often get asked if I have made any long distance runs. I’ve made a few. Have only been out of state once, and that was actually my first long road trip. It was a gal traveling for business and she said it was cheaper for her to fly into the Tulsa Airport and then Uber back and forth to Fort Smith, Arkansas then it would have been to catch an extra leg on a different airline to fly into Fort Smith, especially because it wasn’t the airline she usually travels to earn her rewards points. That made perfect sense. It was $112 ride that paid me 90 bucks. She was flying out the next day so we made arrangements and I drove back down to get her and bring her back. We couldn’t use the Uber app because I picked her up out of the state of Oklahoma, but she paid me $100 cash. She saved a little bit of money, and I made a little bit more money from the trip down there.
I’ve driven the 50 miles to Bartlesville three times and made two trips to Oklahoma City. One of them was also a round trip. It was a college student from Maryland who was transferring from a college in Edmond to Oral Roberts University. She just needed to go down and get some information and do some paperwork and then close out her dorm. It made sense for me to drop her off and take a few rides in the city while I waited. She called me when she was done. I picked her up and brought her back home. I even took a kid all the way out to Anadarko one time which is 70 miles or so west of Oklahoma City. His car wasn’t running and he sells blankets at these reservation pow wows that are held at Fairgrounds across the state. That’s how he makes money and he had to get there so we worked out a deal and I drove him out on a Thursday, and then went out on a Sunday and brought him back.
I’m always an entrepreneur at heart, so I’m always looking for the repeat business. Sometimes that’s just a return trip, or sometimes it’s future business. I’ve probably given my cell phone number out to 40 or 50 people that have used me multiple occasions. Sometimes it’s people that come to Tulsa on business frequently and they’ll text me when their flight arrives. If I’m driving, I’ll go get them and take them to their hotel and then drive them back to the airport when it’s time for them to get home. I’ve got a handful of people that use me weekly now as they travel for business just about every week.
I’ve always said, and it’s genuine and true, but my favorite part of driving isn’t the easy money. It’s meeting the variety of people and especially those people that have a good story. Sometimes I only see them once and learn a little bit about their life, find out we have some common ground or common experiences, and it’s just a a good ride with good conversation. And sometimes it’s an ongoing conversation that continues each time I pick up somebody local and we just pick up where we left off the next time.
One of my favorite rides, and the first specific one I’ll share, was just a few weeks ago. I got a request to go to Tulsa University. As I drove up, I saw young lady, obviously a college student, and an older woman. The older woman turned out to be her grandmother who was visiting her from California. Turns out the grandmother was one of 10 children, but she only had one sibling left alive. That sister lives outside of Jay, Oklahoma, and I was taking her out there so she could spend a few days with her sister. That farm was only two miles from the Arkansas border, and it was definitely a rural trip. She loved the scenery, since it was a nice switch from the Los Angeles area and all the concrete. She is 72 years old, and her husband is 80. They had built a business of buy here, pay here car lots, or as she called them, finance companies. They did that for years and built a significant business, and when they walked away from that business they built a Performing Arts Center in the town they live in. They are running that as retirees and part-timers just trying to keep busy. We didn’t discuss their financial situation, but I’m intuitive enough to understand that since they were paying for all their grandkids college education and they have a house on Lake Tahoe, that they had done well for themselves. The ride was a enjoyable as we just had a good conversation back and forth. We talked about work, kids and grandkids, the California weather and just what it’s like to to grow up and see the world around us change as we do. She left a very nice tip and gave me a hug as I handed her off to her sister, who also gave me a hug. I did my job. I got her there in one piece. And we both made a friend.
That’s just one of hundreds, but it’s an Uber story
Uber & Lyft: Everyone Has A Story 