Lyft adventure
Started driving for Lyft after the hilarious fiasco with Uber a few weeks ago. Now I shall be able to further entertain the masses with human encounters and a means of paying bills. I signed on with the competitor, Lyft, and I am much happier with it. In terms of being a driver, there is more hand holding and courtesy that they show their drivers, and riders seem to agree the same way. This is not, however, a blog about the shortcomings of Uber verses the good of Lyft as the superior, because each is what it is. So I digress.
There is no difference in the experiences you will have whether you are Lyft or Uber driving, save for the volume of riders. As we speak, in this or any other city, there are my Uber drivers than there are Lyft drivers. They say that is changing, as those on the West Coast are utilizing Lyft more that they are Uber and the feelings seem to be changing nationwide about the two. Peak times are no different, as one would expect, as people are most likely to be using it at high volumes on Friday and Saturday nights. Curiously enough, there is also a peak time listed as the early morning times to take people to work in early morning rush hour. I never thought about this, but it does make sense as it would be more difficult to get a ride to work rather than home from save for health care staff who is working night shifts at hospitals or nursing homes, then it's difficult all around. As to those who utilize it? You meet all kinds. The most likely you meet are suburbanites who are headed out for Friday or Saturday night fun at the trendy bars and clubs either from home to the locations, between locations, or from the locations home. Sometimes you will get those who are getting off a late night shift or going to a late night shift in health care, as noted above. And then you get some strange wildcard who only needs you to do something that you never would have otherwise. One night, I was on the east side and picked up a gal with a boot on one foot (for a broken bone, not an actual boot) at her house and she had me take her to a fast food restaurant about two blocks away. The restaurant was closed, and she instructed to take me through the drive-thru, which we did. She ordered about twenty pounds of food, then I took her right back to her house. I did not ask questions.
Last Saturday night's Lyft ride was truly strange. It was not based on location, it was in the middle of the suburbs / city at populated location wanting to go to other populated location. I was on the east side down the street from the Cedar Lee theater before a bar simply called Pub. I called the rider and said I was before the front door, he said he would be there soon. He came out. He was a 75 year old black man in a cheap suit and seemed a little odd, I wasn't sure if it was due to age or inebriation. He wasn't very chatty, he sat in the front seat. Usually when someone is a solo rider and they ride in the front seat, they want to talk. As we got moving to his next location, he asked if I was busy tonight. I made one of those hand motions indicating it was okay or so-so, and he said he didn't know what that meant. I said it was fairly busy, now that it was getting to peak hours it was picking up somewhat. He asked if I was busy tonight. I stopped for a moment, busy? I decided not to answer claiming ignorance. He said "Oh wait, I don't want to go to the hotel, I want to go to that bar." He pointed down the street in Little Italy, I pulled up to a small hole in the wall off the main street. I said "Okay, be safe." And drove away.
Barely three minutes later, I received another ping and answered it yes. I followed the GPS direction and found myself driving in a circle and driving to the exact same place I had just left, and the exact same person came to my car. He once again got into the front seat. I said "Hello again." He asked if I was busy tonight. I said to him I am the same person who picked you up and left you a few minutes ago, remember? He said "Oh, yeah... You busy tonight?" I said I was driving. I drove him to a nearby hotel, an actual one not a flophouse, and he said "I'm going to bed now." I said "Okay, see ya."
Fortunately there was not a third ping from him, if there was I wasn't going to answer it. I wasn't sure if this was solicitation that just happened, if he was drunk/high, or if he went to that first bar for some drug trafficking purpose. I didn't point out that he should have just let me sit there idle until he did whatever he did if he was only going to be there for five minutes. The whole situation was rather strange, and I decided if he was in fact soliciting I was going to start carrying pepper spray.
There is no difference in the experiences you will have whether you are Lyft or Uber driving, save for the volume of riders. As we speak, in this or any other city, there are my Uber drivers than there are Lyft drivers. They say that is changing, as those on the West Coast are utilizing Lyft more that they are Uber and the feelings seem to be changing nationwide about the two. Peak times are no different, as one would expect, as people are most likely to be using it at high volumes on Friday and Saturday nights. Curiously enough, there is also a peak time listed as the early morning times to take people to work in early morning rush hour. I never thought about this, but it does make sense as it would be more difficult to get a ride to work rather than home from save for health care staff who is working night shifts at hospitals or nursing homes, then it's difficult all around. As to those who utilize it? You meet all kinds. The most likely you meet are suburbanites who are headed out for Friday or Saturday night fun at the trendy bars and clubs either from home to the locations, between locations, or from the locations home. Sometimes you will get those who are getting off a late night shift or going to a late night shift in health care, as noted above. And then you get some strange wildcard who only needs you to do something that you never would have otherwise. One night, I was on the east side and picked up a gal with a boot on one foot (for a broken bone, not an actual boot) at her house and she had me take her to a fast food restaurant about two blocks away. The restaurant was closed, and she instructed to take me through the drive-thru, which we did. She ordered about twenty pounds of food, then I took her right back to her house. I did not ask questions.
Last Saturday night's Lyft ride was truly strange. It was not based on location, it was in the middle of the suburbs / city at populated location wanting to go to other populated location. I was on the east side down the street from the Cedar Lee theater before a bar simply called Pub. I called the rider and said I was before the front door, he said he would be there soon. He came out. He was a 75 year old black man in a cheap suit and seemed a little odd, I wasn't sure if it was due to age or inebriation. He wasn't very chatty, he sat in the front seat. Usually when someone is a solo rider and they ride in the front seat, they want to talk. As we got moving to his next location, he asked if I was busy tonight. I made one of those hand motions indicating it was okay or so-so, and he said he didn't know what that meant. I said it was fairly busy, now that it was getting to peak hours it was picking up somewhat. He asked if I was busy tonight. I stopped for a moment, busy? I decided not to answer claiming ignorance. He said "Oh wait, I don't want to go to the hotel, I want to go to that bar." He pointed down the street in Little Italy, I pulled up to a small hole in the wall off the main street. I said "Okay, be safe." And drove away.
Barely three minutes later, I received another ping and answered it yes. I followed the GPS direction and found myself driving in a circle and driving to the exact same place I had just left, and the exact same person came to my car. He once again got into the front seat. I said "Hello again." He asked if I was busy tonight. I said to him I am the same person who picked you up and left you a few minutes ago, remember? He said "Oh, yeah... You busy tonight?" I said I was driving. I drove him to a nearby hotel, an actual one not a flophouse, and he said "I'm going to bed now." I said "Okay, see ya."
Fortunately there was not a third ping from him, if there was I wasn't going to answer it. I wasn't sure if this was solicitation that just happened, if he was drunk/high, or if he went to that first bar for some drug trafficking purpose. I didn't point out that he should have just let me sit there idle until he did whatever he did if he was only going to be there for five minutes. The whole situation was rather strange, and I decided if he was in fact soliciting I was going to start carrying pepper spray.
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