So I went to drive for Uber Saturday night, normally the best night of the week for earnings. I started around 6 p.m. and I got pinged right away by a couple of Welshmen who needed a ride from their Air Bnb rental house to the downtown area. It never ceases to amaze me, the people who visit here from all over the world.
Anyway, from the minute I went online, it was a fairly constant flow of rides, mostly medium and long rides, only because I made a point of staying at least 20 minutes from the center of town, where people were steadily grabbing rides back into town, until about 11:30 p.m. Then I changed my strategy, to lingering close to the downtown bar areas, where people were starting to head back to the outskirts.
I cruised by one popular and crowded spot, where I noticed a gorgeous young woman in white, attempting to hail a cab with her obviously drunk boyfriend, with no apparent luck. The problem with Uber is that I could not actually offer them a ride. I would have to wait for them to click on the app on their smartphone, if they had actually already signed up for Uber, and hope I was the closest driver.
So I made a right with the line of slow-moving traffic, to go around the block and maybe park close by, when my phone lit up with a ride request. Amazingly, it was right back in the same area where I had just seen the girl. I clicked to accept the request and proceeded to turn around.
When I finally got back there, I waited for "Stephanie" to find me parked in front of the Hard Rock Cafe, the only empty curb-space available, information which I had texted to her. After about a five minute wait, guess who opens the passenger door and hops in next to me, but this same girl in white!
She thanked me profusely and asked me to take her to a club on the other side of town. Remembering her partner, I asked if there was anyone else on the way and she said "no", she was the only one. During the trip, she called someone and seemed to be arguing with them about treating her badly and how she had no time for such treatment.
She hung up and informed me that I was a lifesaver for giving her a ride, because her boyfriend had got drunk and become quite abusive and she had been unable to find an available cab to get away from him and go hang with her friends instead. Then she had requested Uber and I had shown up in "under two minutes" and how great that was, to be able to just call a "personal driver" to escape the situation. This was actually the third time I can remember, that I picked up a woman that was in an abusive situation and whisked her away.
So, I may not be getting rich from Uber, but this part is pretty cool.
Anyway, from the minute I went online, it was a fairly constant flow of rides, mostly medium and long rides, only because I made a point of staying at least 20 minutes from the center of town, where people were steadily grabbing rides back into town, until about 11:30 p.m. Then I changed my strategy, to lingering close to the downtown bar areas, where people were starting to head back to the outskirts.
I cruised by one popular and crowded spot, where I noticed a gorgeous young woman in white, attempting to hail a cab with her obviously drunk boyfriend, with no apparent luck. The problem with Uber is that I could not actually offer them a ride. I would have to wait for them to click on the app on their smartphone, if they had actually already signed up for Uber, and hope I was the closest driver.
So I made a right with the line of slow-moving traffic, to go around the block and maybe park close by, when my phone lit up with a ride request. Amazingly, it was right back in the same area where I had just seen the girl. I clicked to accept the request and proceeded to turn around.
When I finally got back there, I waited for "Stephanie" to find me parked in front of the Hard Rock Cafe, the only empty curb-space available, information which I had texted to her. After about a five minute wait, guess who opens the passenger door and hops in next to me, but this same girl in white!
She thanked me profusely and asked me to take her to a club on the other side of town. Remembering her partner, I asked if there was anyone else on the way and she said "no", she was the only one. During the trip, she called someone and seemed to be arguing with them about treating her badly and how she had no time for such treatment.
She hung up and informed me that I was a lifesaver for giving her a ride, because her boyfriend had got drunk and become quite abusive and she had been unable to find an available cab to get away from him and go hang with her friends instead. Then she had requested Uber and I had shown up in "under two minutes" and how great that was, to be able to just call a "personal driver" to escape the situation. This was actually the third time I can remember, that I picked up a woman that was in an abusive situation and whisked her away.
So, I may not be getting rich from Uber, but this part is pretty cool.
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